Two Aberdeenshire Council by-elections being held

Ian Gray died in August

Two Aberdeenshire Council by-elections are being held.

Voters are being asked to choose a new councillor in the Banff and District ward, to replace SNP councillor Ian Gray, who died in August.

And the second by-election, in Inverurie and District, was triggered by the council's former co-leader, independent Martin Kitts Hayes, standing down.

Votes will be counted in Inverurie on Friday.

Mr Kitts-Hayes had returned home early from a foreign conference because he was unhappy with his accommodation.

He said resulting personal abuse had put an "intolerable strain" on himself and his family.

Martin Kitts-Hayes returned from Denmark early