Four World War One battleships sunk in Scapa Flow in Orkney in 1919 are being sold on eBay - with an asking price of just over £800,000.

The vessels, which were part of the German High Seas fleet, were deliberately scuttled 100 years ago.
the seller explained that they had been bought from a defunct salvage company.

The ships - the Markgraf, Karlsruhe, Konig and Kronprinz Wilhelm - are scheduled monuments, which recreational divers are not supposed to enter.

But Drew Crawford, agent for retired Tayside diving contractor Tommy Clark, said the owner of the wrecks would be allowed to access them.

They cannot be removed from the seabed.

Mr Crawford told BBC Radio Orkney it might be possible to obtain licences to retrieve artefacts from the ships, although the commercial salvage of the wrecks themselves would no longer be allowed.

He said: "The wrecks ended up under the ownership of Scapa Flow Salvage.

"That company went into receivership and they were put out for tender at the time, and Mr Clark purchased them from the receiver.

"There's a sense of pride associated with these absolutely iconic vessels, but ultimately he's come to a time in his life where he's not going to do anything further with them, so it's a case of passing the baton on to the next owner."