Four arrested over Algarve attack on Scot

Four Britons have been arrested in Portugal after a Scot was apparently kidnapped and tortured in the Algarve.

James Ross, from Wick, Caithness, is recovering in hospital after he disappeared while travelling to Portugal on 5 October. According to reports the 26-year-old was kept in a cage in a row over an unpaid debt.

Local newspapers claimed Mr Ross was tortured for 13 days before escaping from his captors in the village of Boliqueime, near the town of Loule, on Monday.

He was found bleeding in the street in the nearby village of Alfontes by a local resident, Carlos Pereira, who told the paper that Mr Ross had "no left ear and was missing two fingers on his left hand, one (toe] from one foot and two from the other".

Northern Constabulary launched a joint operation with the Portuguese Policia Judicaria and the Serious Organised Crime Agency. They described Mr Ross as a "high risk" missing person.