An elderly man has died after his mobility scooter fell off a pier into the sea, police have said.

Stuart Farquhar, 87, was pulled from the water at Pennan, on the north coast of Aberdeenshire, at about 11am on Good Friday.

He was helped by members of the public and airlifted to hospital in Aberdeen by an RAF helicopter from Lossiemouth, but later died.

The ambulance service said he had suffered a head injury during the fall.

It is believed he may have been attempting to turn the scooter when it fell into the water.

Reports said Mr Farquhar was a regular visitor to Pennan, where the locals know him well, the Daily Record reported.

Pennan became well-known in the 1980s as the location for Bill Forsyth’s Bafta-winning film Local Hero, which tells the tale of an American oil company that wants to build a refinery in a remote Scottish village.

Online Editors