Major disruption was experienced on north roads yesterday after a bus broke down in Inverness city centre and three cars collided on the A9.
There were huge tailbacks on key routes in and out of the heart of the Highland capital after a service bus came to a standstill on the city’s busy Academy Street.
Two bus drivers were forced to direct traffic around the vehicle until the police arrived at the scene of the incident, which happened at about lunchtime.
Witnesses reported gridlock in the city centre that stretched back to the Rose Street roundabout and Bank Street.
The Stagecoach vehicle, which appeared to be heading into Inverness bus station, came to a halt in the yellow box on Academy Street, at its junction with Queensgate and Strothers Lane.
The disruption in the city centre lasted for about an hour.
Shortly after the bus issue was resolved, three vehicles were involved in a collision near the Cromarty Bridge on the A9 Inverness to Wick road.
The incident happened at about 1.20pm near the Conon Bridge turn-off at the south end of the bridge, resulting in the temporary closure of the southbound lane.
The three vehicles – a grey Volvo S60, a green Citroen C4 and a red Seat Leon – were damaged in the crash and all required recovery by workers from trunk road managers Bear Scotland.
Police, ambulance and the fire service attended the scene, including two fire appliances from Dingwall and one from Invergordon, but a spokeswoman for the service said that all of the occupants of the cars involved were safely out of their vehicles by the time the emergency services arrived.
At least two people were understood to have been taken to hospital but it was believed that their injuries were minor.
The road was fully re-opened after about an hour and a half.