A Thurso teenager died after his car hit a building in an early morning crash.
Eddie Laing, 19, was killed in the one-vehicle accident onthe A99 between Keiss and Wester at about 3am yesterday.
Police were at the scene until almost 12 hours later.
Last night, his best friend paid tribute to the “lovely guy” who worked at Scrabsetr Harbour.
Michael Cannop, also of Thurso, said: “I’m heartbroken today.
“He was my best friend and I can’t believe he’s gone.
“He was round here all the time and I keep expecting him to come round any moment.”
He said that Mr Laing was particularly fond of his motorcycles.
He added: “He was a lovely guy. Everyone respected him, I never heard a bad word said about him.
“He’s away far too soon, he really is.”
The accident happened on the Wick to John O’Groats road to the south of the village of Keiss.
Mr Laing was the driver and the only occupant of the car, which appears to have left the road and collided with an unoccupied stone house by the side of the A99.
The vehicle was thought to have been travelling north towards Keiss when it left the road.
Tyre tracks could be seen crossing the wide grass verge and the car appears to have gone through a fence and across the corner of a field and into the building.
Debris could be seen around the front of the building, while workers had cleared a substantial amount of fuel which appeared to have been spilled.
Emergency services were alerted to the accident at about 3.15am.
It is understood that Mr Laing died at the scene.
Specialist road policing officers carried out a thorough investigation at the scene, with the road not reopening until around 2.45pm.
A police spokesman said: “Police Scotland can confirm that a man has sadly died following a road traffic collision in Caithness.
“The man was the driver and only occupant of the car.
“The road remain closes to allow for a full investigation, with a diversion in place via Lyth.
“The man’s next of kin have been informed and further details will be released in due course.”
The fire service confirmed that two crews from Wick and another from John O’Groats attended at the scene.
A spokesman for the service said that the crews had not been required at the scene.
