A royal railway station has been destroyed after a blaze ripped through the building.
Fire crews were called to the Old Royal Station in Ballater, Aberdeenshire, at 2am on Tuesday.
At the height of the incident around 50 firefighters were at the scene in Station Square.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) say around 75% of the building has been damaged.
But firefighters were able to save several important artifacts, including a replica of a carriage used by Queen Victoria.
The station was used by royalty for a century between 1866 and 1966, when it was closed in the Beeching Cuts.
Visit Scotland regional director Philip Smith said: “The building has been very badly damaged and the restaurant appears to be all but destroyed.
“The visitor information centre is badly damaged and while the royal carriage in the museum seems to have survived, the museum has been badly damaged.
“Once the fire service were made aware of the museum’s contents they did their best to save the it.”
The Duke and Duchess of Rothesay visited the station in 2008 to open the reproduction carriage to the public.
During his visit, Prince Charles reminisced about childhood journeys to Ballater, which is near Balmoral Castle.
He said: “I have incredibly special memories of arriving and departing from here as a child. It is wonderful to see it brought back to life.
“I hope it will make an enormous difference to Ballater and this part of Scotland in terms of its attraction.”
The restored Victorian railway station included a royal waiting room specially built for Queen Victoria.
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service group manager John Morgan said: “Operations will continue for several hours to extinguish any hot spots and prevent further fire spread. The crews fought hard to save parts of the museum area.”
There are no reports of any injuries.
Fire crews had the blaze under control by 5.20am but remain at the scene to continue to dampen down the area.
STV
12 May 2015 07:15 BST
