Trawlermen from Aberdeen are among those set to benefit from the first compensation payments to be made to those who lost their livelihoods in the Cod Wars 30 years ago.

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson will pay cheques to around 1,000 people who fished in Icelandic waters.

Those involved will receive payments totalling between £5 million and £10 million.

Lord Mandelson said: "I'm pleased to be able to start this new scheme off by meeting some of the people who will benefit from further compensation.

"These men lost their livelihoods through no fault of their own and deserve just treatment. The new scheme is a much fairer deal and means that the group of trawlermen that received unreasonably low payments under the previous scheme - around one in six - will now receive additional compensation."

Former trawlermen from Aberdeen, Hull, Grimsby, and Fleetwood will benefit from the scheme.

The Cod Wars refer to a series of confrontations between UK and Iceland in the 1950s and 1970s regarding fishing rights in the North Atlantic.

The Royal Navy was deployed to protect British ships from harassment from Icelandic counterparts after Iceland declared fishing rights to an area beyond its territorial waters.