Visitors are to have a rare opportunity to see inside the Neolithic houses at Skara Brae in Orkney.

Usually people can only see the site from the paths round the outside as a result of measures to preserve the 5,000-year-old buildings.

However, to celebrate World Heritage Day on April 18, there will be five guided tours led by staff at the village, the Orkney Ranger Service and Historic Scotland district architect Steve Watt.

The site was exposed in 1850 during a storm and is one of the best preserved prehistoric village in northern Europe.

Within the stone walls of the dwellings - separated by passages - are stone beds, dressers, seats and boxes for provisions, recesses for personal possessions, and a hearth where dried heather, bracken or seaweed was burned.

Ranger Elaine Clarke said in a statement: "This is a rare opportunity to go inside the houses which were built by these early farmers, and get close to the fires where they cooked, the beds where they slept and the shelves where they stored their precious items.

"It's wonderful to have the opportunity to hear about the vital work Steve and his colleagues, have been doing over the years to care for this important part of our heritage."