Mounted police to patrol Inverness city centre
Mounted police are to make a rare appearance on the streets of Inverness at the weekend.
Four horses and their riders will patrol the city centre as part of Police Scotland's festive campaign, Operation Respect.
A spokesman said the Highlands and Islands division was now able to draw on the resource following the move to a single Scottish police force.
Mounted police will patrol Inverness on Friday and Saturday night.
The unit was not a specialist resource available to former Northern Constabulary, which was merged with other Scottish forces to form Police Scotland.
Operation Respect is a police effort to improve safety and cut crime over the Christmas and New Year period.
The spokesman said the mounted officers would provide a "high visibility police presence".