NATO warships will team up to hunt for pirates off the Scottish coast in the largest military exercise of its type next month.

Operation Joint Warrior will see the armed forces of 10 nations conducting war games in the North Atlantic for almost two weeks.

Warships from Britain, the US, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, France, Norway, Denmark and Estonia will take part, while RAF fighter planes flying out of Scottish bases will also be deployed.

Around 150 service personnel, many of them reservists, will be stationed at Faslane naval base, near Helensburgh in Argyll and Bute.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "Exercise Joint Warrior allows the armed forces to practise the wide variety of skills needed by today's military."