The body of a young girl has been found on the isle of Bute.

Police said they discovered remains in the grounds of a former hotel while looking for a six-year-old reported missing on Monday morning.

Police had been alerted on Monday morning that a six-year-old girl, named locally as Alesha Macphail, was missing from a house in Ardbeg.A police spokeswoman said: "At 6.25 this morning police were informed a six-year-old girl was missing in Rothesay.

"A search was undertaken.

"At nine this morning the body of a young grl was found in the grounds of an old hotel."

The former hotel concerned is believed to be the Kyles Hydro in Port Bannatyne, two miles north of Rothesay.

An area of woodland is understood to have been cordoned off by police