A Scottish port has seen a record season due to a boom in international potato exports.

Grangemouth Port recorded a 30% increase in refrigerated containers - known as 'reefers' - in November, compared to the same month last year.

Owner Forth Ports said potato seeds were travelling to new countries from Grangemouth for the first time this year, including Thailand, China and Namibia.

The firm said the majority of the containers handled were used to export Scottish potato seed, with it handling 1400 reefers in November during a "buoyant" quarter when 50,000 container units passed through the site.

Derek Knox, Grangemouth's port manager, said: "Scotland has a strong reputation right across the world for the quality of our fresh produce and this has resulted in increasing demand for reefer capacity at our port in Grangemouth.

"This year, we have seen potato seed in particular enjoying a bumper season with Scottish farmers exporting their crop globally resulting in our port's busiest quarter ever."

"Between October and November we are 30% up on reefer volumes year on year. This is good for the Scottish economy, good for the farming sector and good for business and we're committed to supporting this growth through our investments in infrastructure and equipment at the port of Grangemouth."