Six fishermen who were on board a boat which has sunk off the coast of Aberdeen have been rescued.

The crewmen have been taken aboard a nearby vessel and are awaiting collection by a coastguard helicopter.

The Audacious, which is Banff registered, contacted the coastguard at around 2.30pm before sinking 40 miles east of Aberdeen.

All crew members made it to life-rafts before being rescued.

Two helicopters, one from RAF Lossiemouth and another from a Danish Warship which is on exercise in the area, were initially sent to the scene by the coastguard.

A spokesman for the coastguard said: "Weather conditions would have been good at the time."

Banff and District councillor John Cox said: “Firstly the community’s thoughts will be with the crew and their families.

“It’s one of these things they can’t pull into a layby [if there is a problem]. One of the things that is often said is that because the fleet is reduced so much it can be that boats are fairly isolated if there is a problem, when before a number of vessels in the area could have come to their aid. This highlights the need for adequate rescue facilities on hand in the area.”

He said that at recent trade meetings the safety of crews had been top of the agenda.

“Despite many of the positives statements that come out of the industry with increased income, the industry is going backwards because a lot of the money coming into the industry is going out through quota trading," he said.

“This might not relate to this particular vessel, and I’m not suggesting it does, but what is concerning the fishing community is there is a reduction in investment in the fleet as a whole because of this top slicing to pay for quota.

“There’s probably absolutely no connection with that concern and this boat, but it means the industry is on a knife edge not knowing what is going to happen in the future.”

Mr Cox said that there was evidence a lot of money going out of the industry as a whole rather than being reinvested in the fleet.

The coastguard said it was currently unclear what had caused the boat, which is 30m long and weights in at nearly 440 tonnes, to sink.

View Location of the sinking of the Audacious in a larger map