Couple lose home after fire on Isle of Coll

A couple have lost their home after it was destroyed by a fire on the Isle of Coll.

The fire broke out in an outbuilding near Aringour before spreading to the house then grassland.

Retired volunteer fireman Kevin Oliphant, who runs the Coll Hotel, and helped tackle the blaze, said the house had been completely burnt out.

"The couple have lost everything," he told BBC Scotland. "All they have is what they are standing up in."

He added: "They are devastated. The fire was horrendous. It was all over the place, spreading north and west. We've had no rain for a while so the grass was bone dry."

No-one was in the property at the time.

Fire crews were called to the blaze just after 13:00. Volunteer firefighters on Coll, later supported by a crew from the island of Mull, were at the scene until 22:30.

Meanwhile, a grass fire has also been burning on a munro in Glen Etive near Glencoe.

The alarm was raised about the three-mile blaze on Ben Starav late on Friday afternoon but due to its high location firefighters were unable to access it so had to leave it to burn out.

Earlier this month, firefighters warned of an "high to extreme" risk of wildfires across central Scotland following recent dry weather.