Whisky Galore bottles fetch £12,050

The bottles were among eight recovered from the SS Politician wreck in 1987

Two bottles of whisky salvaged from the shipwreck that inspired the book and film Whisky Galore have been sold for £12,050 after an online auction.

They were part of the cargo on the SS Politician, which sank off Eriskay in the Outer Hebrides in 1941.

Scotch Whisky Auctions, which sold the bottles, said they had gone to a buyer in the UK after worldwide interest.

They were among eight bottles recovered from the wreck in 1987 by Donald MacPhee, from South Uist.

The whisky is not thought to be fit for human consumption.

The SS Politician was headed for Jamaica with 28,000 cases of whisky when it ran aground on the northern side of Eriskay in bad weather.

Islanders recovered hundreds of cases of whisky from the wreck and some of the bottles were buried to keep them hidden from customs officers.

Other bottles have since been found washed up on the island's shores and also recovered by divers.

Scottish author Compton Mackenzie, published the novel Whisky Galore in 1947, which was loosely based on the SS Politician wreck.

It was adapted for the cinema in a 1949 Ealing comedy starring Basil Radford.