A man had to be rescued from the water in Nairn and taken to hospital after his car plunged into a river.
Police, ambulance and Coastguard crews were called to the area near the Highland town’s harbour shortly before 11am today.
The driver, who was the only person in the car, had to be rescued from the water after it fell from the large drop from the quayside at the car park.
It is understood that the incident was accidental.
At one point only the roof of the car remained above the surface of the River Nairn before the tide went out by the time it was recovered.
Paramedics checked the man at the scene to ensure he had not suffered any injuries from the descent or from being in the water before taking him to hospital in Inverness as a precaution.
The white Citroen C3 remained in the River Nairn for several hours before eventually being hoisted to dry land by crane.
A police spokesman said: “We became aware of a vehicle having entered the water at Nairn Harbour shortly before 11am today.
“The male driver was rescued from the water and has been checked over by the ambulance service.
“Recovery has been arranged for the vehicle.”
A Coastguard spokesman said: “We did get our local Coastguard teams from Nairn and Burghead to attend after we were contacted but when we got there the police had already got the person involved out of the water.”
An ambulance service spokeswoman said: “We received a call at 11am and sent one ambulance to the scene. A male patient was transported to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.”