A serious crash on the A9 Inverness-Thurso road could delay the referendum result in the Highlands.
The incident at 11.30pm at the notorious accident blackspot at Berriedale Braes has closed the trunk road.
It means that a van taking ballot boxes from Caithness has had to be diverted via Melvich in Sutherland.
It is understood that the van had started down the A9 when the accident happened.
Votes from the far north were expected to arrived in Dingwall at around 1.25am but this could be delayed by around 45 minutes.
Chief superintendent Julian Innes, who is attending the count in Dingwall, said that as soon as the incident was reported, police liaised with council staff to reroute the van.
He said that the diversion would add around an hour and a half onto the journey.
However he said it would cause minimal delay to the result, which was predicted to be announced at around 4am.
He said: “By the time it arrives, most of the votes will have been counted so there will be lots of people to count the votes from Caithness.”
Highland count faces “minimal delay” after A9 crash
