A woman is recovering in hospital after she was impaled by the neck on a spiked railing.

Kirsty Scott, 23, slipped on an icy path outside a flat in Perth on Monday morning and landed on the five inch long spike - leaving in embedded beneath her chin.

Firefighters had to use a hacksaw to cut through the railing and she was taken to hospital for emergency surgery to remove it.

She was rushed to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee and is expected to make a full recovery.

Ms Scott was with her partner when she slipped and was conscious throughout the rescue.

Neil Scott, Perth Fire and Rescue station manager, said she had been "very lucky".

He said: "She was very fortunate that the spike embedded without hitting any of her bones. She stayed calm throughout, but afterwards she became quite distraught. I think she was just in shock. It must have been a very traumatic experience for her."

It took firefighters around half an hour to free Miss Scott because they only had a tiny space to cut through.

A Tayside Police spokesman said she was freed shortly before 9am. She was now conscious, sitting up in bed and speaking to her family.

The police spokesman said she is expected to make a full recovery, and her family, which has asked for privacy, was "very grateful" to emergency services for rescuing her.