A young woman has been seriously assaulted in a quiet residential street in Dingwall.
Named locally as Suzanne Matheson, 25, she was taken to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness in the early hours of yesterday after a disturbance in Deas Avenue.
Meanwhile, a 20-year-old man was arrested at the scene and remained in police custody last night.
A police presence had been maintained for most of the day yesterday, with door-to-door inquiries being carried out, as investigators tried to piece together what had happened.
One of the houses was effectively sealed off by a police car, parked at the back gate of the property, which enabled the officer to watch the front and rear of the home.
People went about their business as details began to emerge about a night of drama, which ended with the young woman being seriously injured.
“We hadn’t been in bed all that long, my wife got home from her work at 12.45am, when the dog started getting restless,” one resident said.
“It was obvious that something was happening nearby, so we had a look out our window and there was a commotion going on outside one of the houses.
“There was a lot of shouting, then some very loud screaming, but we could not see properly in the dark exactly what was happening.
“It was a shock to hear that the young girl had ended up in hospital, that is not a good thing to happen.”
Another resident said: “The police came round and asked if I had seen or heard anything, all I could tell them was that there was something going on behind one of the houses.”
Several police cars and an ambulance had been deployed to the street after being alerted by a resident, with police later appealing for witnesses to get in touch.
A spokeswoman said: “During the early hours of Wednesday, a 25-year-old female was seriously assaulted during a disturbance at an address on Deas Avenue, Dingwall.
“A 20-year-old man is currently in police custody in relation to this investigation. Anyone who may have any information is urged to phone 101.”