Angelina Jolie visits Halo Trust headquarters

Angelina Jolie visited the headquarters of the landmine charity in Dumfries and Galloway

Hollywood star Angelina Jolie has used her time in Scotland to visit the global headquarters of a charity which specialises in landmine removal.

She is visiting the country with her partner Brad Pitt as he shoots the film World War Z in various locations.

The pair are long-standing supporters of the Halo Trust's work.

Jolie took the opportunity to visit the trust's headquarters in Thornhill, Dumfriesshire, on Saturday for the first time.

She was given a briefing by senior Halo staff on the current landmine problem and heard about the kind of work they are doing.

She said: "It was a privilege to visit the Halo headquarters and meet their committed staff.

"In the aftermath of war, Halo's mine-clearing efforts are fundamental to a safe return and community building."

The Jolie-Pitt Foundation has provided "hundreds of thousands of pounds" worth of financial support to Halo, funding humanitarian mine clearance teams in Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Kosovo and Afghanistan.

Guy Willoughby, co-founder and director of the trust, said: "It was a great opportunity for us to talk through the projects and also plan our demining priorities for the future - identifying which communities in different countries are most in need of our support."

Halo is one of the world's oldest and largest humanitarian landmine clearance organisations and tackles the problem of landmines and other explosive remnants of war.

Other celebrity supporters have included Prince Harry and his late mother Diana, Princess of Wales.