Proceeds will go to animal welfare groups

Animal welfare charities are set to benefit from the fleece of Britain’s loneliest sheep.

Fiona, the isolated ovine who was discovered trapped at the foot of a hill in Cromarty Firth, will have its fleece sold with proceeds going to Scottish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA) and RSABI, the Scottish arm of a farming mental health charity.

Fiona has become an unlikely celebrity, with posts from the farm being viewed 3m times. She has appeared live on ITV’s This Morning and her story has spread around the world, being covered by the likes of the New York Times.

However, a protest was staged at the weekend by an animal rights group over plans to move her to a farm park, near Dumfries.

Protesters say she should have been left in her natural environment.

Farmer Ben Best of Dalscone Farm said it had been a "stressful" couple of days to get the sheep to Dumfries.

"Last night, under the cover of darkness, we brought her in just away from any prying eyes," he said.

"She has settled in absolutely brilliantly. She has been eating, drinking.

"We couldn't be happier with how she has settled in."

He said the whole experience had been a "bit surreal" but Fiona was "super chilled".

Jillian Turner first spotted the sheep two years ago while she was paddling along the coast of Sutherland with her kayak club. She assumed the sheep would make it back to wherever home was by itself and thought no more of it.

When she took the same journey again recently she was horrified to see the same animal.

Recalling her first sighting of the sheep, Turner said: “About half a mile before turning into the Cromarty Firth we spotted a sheep on a shingle beach at the bottom of some steep, rocky coastline.

“She saw us coming and was calling to us along the length of the beach following our progress until she could go no further. She finally turned back, looking defeated.”