A young herring gull found covered in bright pink fluorescent paint could have died as a result of the suspected prank, an animal charity has said.

The chick, which has been named Blush, attracted attention from the public whilst wandering near the pier in Mallaig, in the Highlands, on Thursday July 18 and was rescued by the Scottish SPCA.

The charity said the bird could have been seriously injured or killed and fear it was targeted as a prank.

Senior inspecter Gill MacGregor captured the gull with a net and checked it for injuries. It was then taken to Scottish SPCA National Wildlife Rescue Centre in Fishcross near Alloa, Clackmannanshire.

Staff have tried to clean the bird but the pink paint, or dye, remains embedded in its feathers.

Centre manager Colin Seddon said: "Despite our efforts this paint or dye simply will not budge and Blush remains pink. We don't know exactly what type of material it is but we think it could be graffiti-type spraypaint or hair dye.

"Although Blush's appearance may have raised a few laughs, we are very concerned that someone has done this to a defenceless creature. It's lucky that the dye had not gone into its eyes as this could have blinded him or at the least caused pain and discomfort.

"If Blush had been left outdoors on his own in this state then he would have been continuously attacked by other birds. He is one of this year's chicks and not yet matured so he would not have been able to defend himself and could have been injured or even killed.

"We cannot release Blush back into the wild in this condition so we will care for him until he has his first moult and new feathers replace the damaged ones."