AN investigation has been launched into allegations of abuse at a former Catholic boarding school in the Highlands.

Alleged victim Andrew Lavery has made claims of physical, psychological and sexual abuse at the fee-paying school, Fort Augustus Abbey, which was run by Benedictine monks.

Mr Lavery, 41, was a pupil at the school for two years in the 1980s. It closed in 1993.

He said he was beaten, sexually assaulted and isolated in a locked room for days on end under "special measures". He said: "The psychological torture was the most damaging. In the end I wanted to kill myself."

Among other instances of abuse, Mr Lavery also alleged he had been beaten unconscious by a monk and lay master while pupils watched, then left at the playing fields to crawl back to school.

A spokesman from Police Scotland confirmed an investigation had been launched after reports of abuse at the school were raised.

The spokesman said: "Police Scotland Highlands and Islands division are investigating a report of abuse from a former pupil at Fort Augustus Abbey.

"No further information is available at present, as the inquiry is at an early stage and any disclosure made to the police is treated with the strictest confidence."

Fort Augustus monastery, which belonged to the English Congregation of Benedictines, closed in 1998.

There has been heated debate on the school's old boys website about abuse, with some denying it took place.

However, a former pupil who privately investigated abuse at the school posted extracts from 13 separate emails he received from former pupils claiming physical and sexual assault from 1954 until 1991.

"The thing that got to me," one wrote, "was the sexual abuse ... and the fact that no-one would believe me. My mother said, 'priests never do such things'."

The current Abbot President, Father Richard Yeo of Downside Abbey, said former pupils have contacted him regarding the school. He said: "I have heard allegations of both physical and sexual abuse which have disturbed me. If anyone comes forward to speak to me about this, I will try to be there for them."

It is the latest set-back for the Catholic Church in Scotland, which has been in turmoil this year.

Cardinal Keith O'Brien resigned as the leader of Scotland's Catholics earlier this year amid allegations of sexual misconduct, which he intially denied.

He stepped down from his post as Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh after several priests made allegations against him. He later admitted inappropriate sexual conduct.

A statement from the Catholic Church recently said he would be leaving Scotland for several months for spiritual renewal, prayer and penance.

Alan Draper, an ethics lecturer at Dundee University, recently reported that bishops knew of 20 allegations of child sex abuse by priests between 1985 and 1995.

The academic was appointed to advise the Church on sexual abuse and how to respond to it in the mid-1990s.

He asked the country's eight bishops at the time to reveal how much they knew, and reports suggest responding letters have surfaced referring to 20 accusations.