A MAN is described as being in a “critical state” after having to be rescued from the River Ness.

Police were alerted at 9pm on Thursday that a man had entered the river in the centre of Inverness. He went into the water at the Waterloo Bridge on Grant Street.

Following a joint operation, by coastguard, police, an RAF Lossiemouth helicopter and the North Kessock Lifeboat, the man was recovered.

He was unconscious and had to be rushed to Raigmore Hospital.

The man, who has not been identified, is in intensive care and in a critical condition.