The crew of a fishing boat stranded in stormy seas was rescued after a nine-hour operation.

The vessel got into difficulty after fouling its propeller north of Durness on Thursday afternoon.

The Thurso RNLI team battled through 45mph winds and 30ft waves to reach the stricken vessel, which was less than three miles off the coast and drifting towards land.

It took the team more than seven hours to tow if back to Scrabster Harbour in Thurso, with the tow line detaching five times in the rough seas.

An RNLI spokesman said there had been "no immediate danger" to the vessel but described the operation as "very difficult".