A walker who fell on the Aberdeenshire coast was found by rescuers – thanks to his dog.
Coastguard and police teams were called to St Cyrus after reports of a missing man.
When they got there they discovered members of the public had found a dog wandering beside the missing man’s vehicle.
Rescue teams began searching the cliffs as two officers also took the dog, called Ben, for a walk.
The canine led coastguard and police teams along various paths – but eventually stopped at the top of a cliff.
A coastguard spokesman said: “Ben led officers along various paths, passing many intersections before deciding to sit down and look off the edge of a 100ft section of cliff. Nothing was seen.
“After allowing Ben to survey further parts of the cliff path network, Ben took coastguard rescue officers and police directly back to the first location, where he halted again.”
After searching the area, rescuers found a 56-year-old man underneath the 100ft cliff – directly below where the dog had indicated.
The man was airlifted by a rescue helicopter from RAF Lossiemouth and taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
A coastguard spokesman said that the man had “non-life-threatening injuries”.
He added: “Man’s best friend proved to be an invaluable asset when searching for his master.”
The incident involved teams from Montrose, Stonehaven, Arbroath and Carnoustie, as well as lifeboat teams.