The search is on to discover the ultimate Highlands and Islands Icon following the launch of an internet vote by Highland 2007.

Hundreds of nominations have flooded in after an initial competition in Scottish Provincial Press titles across the region.  The top six most popular icons have been put forward to an online poll on the Highland 2007 website to determine the all-time Highlands and Islands Icon.

So far, Nessie is odds on favourite to win the coveted title with Flora Macdonald and Rob Roy Macgregor not far behind.  Hugh Miller, Simon Fraser of Lovat and Bonnie Prince Charlie have also made the top six.

Alison Magee, chair of Highland 2007, said: "We are delighted by the response we received from the newspaper competition and hope that as many people as possible will take part in the online vote.  It's great to see the spread of nominations that have come in, this really seems to have caught peoples imagination.

"The aim of Highland 2007 is to include as many people as possible in the celebrations and the icon survey was a really interesting way of doing that. We're delighted with the response so far and look forward to discovering the ultimate Highlands and Islands Icon."

The competition saw a wide range of people nominated for title including: author Gavin Maxwell, local Head teacher Daniel McDiarmid, Olympic skier Alain Baxter and Highland band Runrig.