Organisers of this year's Edinburgh Marathon are offering a £5,000 reward to anyone who can help them catch the people who stole thousands of bottles of water meant for the runners. 

Supplies had to be rushed in after stations on a six mile stretch of the race in East Lothian started to run out of water during the event on Sunday as temperatures soared.  

Staff, who spent a year planning the event, say the thieves put the health of competitors at risk.

A total of 7,000 bottles of water and 4,000 Lucozade energy gels went missing. 

Race chief executive Geoff Simms said his staff and volunteers had been left devastated by the shambles following the theft.

He said: "The marathon staff spend the best part of the whole year planning a race with the aim that every runner will leave Edinburgh having had a great experience.

"We were devastated to hear that some water stations had run out of water.

"Our sincere apologies go out to all the runners that were adversely affected. We will of course be increasing our security measures in future years to ensure that this never happens again."

A spokeswoman for Lothian and Borders Police said: "We can confirm that we are looking into a report of the theft of a large quantity of liquid items, and further inquiries are ongoing."