Stranded cows saved from floods

Rescuers waded through the floods to reach the cattle

A herd of cows had to swim to safety after being stranded by major flooding in the Highlands.

Coastguards, police, firefighters and the Red Cross were called to a flooded field near Cannich to help rescue the 25 animals.

The alarm was raised by four local farm workers who also became trapped when their tractor was swept away as they tried to reach the animals.

Inflatable rescue rafts were used to help float the cattle to safety.

The farmers also managed to make it safely to dry land. The flooding was caused by the River Beauly bursting its banks.

Coastguard manager Mike Armitage said: "Our main concern was the safety of the farmers who may have put themselves in danger if they had continued in trying to rescue their animals.

"There was a certain feelgood factor about this for all our personnel once the job had been completed successfully.

"We train regularly and work well with the specially-trained Red Cross personnel and their two boats, and fortunately a member of our Coastguard Rescue team is an SSPCA inspector, so we were particularly careful in our handling of the distressed animals."