Anger at RAF Sea King event cancellation in Moray

The Sea Kings will be taken out of service next week

The cancellation of a party marking the retirement of Sea King helicopters has been met with anger.

Members of 202 Squadron at RAF Lossiemouth organised the Elgin celebration so personnel and the local community could say a joint farewell.

The Sea Kings will be mothballed next month and replaced with helicopters run by the private sector.

The RAF said concerns about election rules were behind the decision to cancel the celebration.

It is now looking at alternatives.

The Sea Kings at Lossiemouth have been used for more than four decades.

They will be taken out of service next week.

Moray SNP MP Angus Robertson said: "It is a great shame that the Moray community are being denied the opportunity to personally thank personnel.

"There is massive respect from the public in Moray and right across Scotland for the RAF, with the familiar yellow Sea King regularly seen in the air heading to challenging rescues in the North Sea, in the Cairngorms and further afield."