A Virgin hot air balloon disturbed an osprey nest in Angus, causing young birds to flee.

The giant balloon was photographed coming down within a few metres of the protected site near Forfar.

Mike Fenton, took pictures of the incident at Balgavies Loch on Wednesday evening and said he had "never seen anything so reckless".

The four birds fled as the balloon, which was attempting to land, approached the nest.

Disturbing ospreys is illegal under the Wildlife and Countryside Act as there are less than 250 breeding pairs of the birds living in the UK.

Mr Fenton said: They were hanging out balloon with cameras as he approached nest.

"All four juveniles flew away in a panic.

"They were circling high up half an hour later, still too spooked to come back to tree."

Rab Potter, reserves manager at the Scottish Wildlife Trust, confirmed police are investigating the incident.

He said: "Human disturbance is a real threat to the breeding and long-term conservation of ospreys.

"If this had happened earlier in the season, when the chicks are highly dependent on their parents, there could have been serious consequences."

"We have sent photographs of this incident to Police Scotland, who are making enquiries."

A spokeswoman for Virgin Balloon Flights said: "We are truly sorry to hear that one of our balloons in Scotland appears to have caused distress to nesting ospreys in the area.

"The protection of all wildlife is incredibly important to us here at Virgin Balloon Flights and we work closely with local wildlife organisations and landowners to ensure that our flights do not cause any distress to protected species.

"The exact locations of osprey nests are not made public by wildlife conservation trusts in order to protect the birds and their eggs from any disturbance from the public.

"Because of this, our pilot had no idea the nest was there and it was an unfortunate coincidence that the wind took our balloon within about 50ft of its location as our pilot was looking for a place to land."

She added: "Hot air balloons travel with the wind and can't be 'steered' in the traditional sense.

"However, had we known this area was home to a protected species then our pilot would have marked it on his maps as such and may even have moved the flight to an alternative launch site to avoid the wind taking him over it.

"Once again, we are truly saddened that this has happened and will work closely with the Scottish Wildlife Trust to ensure that something like this does not happen again."