Tortured British man found in Portugal

A British man has been found with an ear, two fingers and three toes chopped off during a terrifying kidnap ordeal in a villa in the Algarve.

James Ross, from Wick in Caithness, disappeared after travelling to Portugal on October 5. According to reports the 26-year-old had an ear, two fingers and three toes cut off and was kept in a cage in a row over an unpaid drug debt of $10,000.

Ross is under armed guard in a Lisbon hospital. Four British men have been arrested and remanded.

Local newspaper Correio da Manha reported that the Scot was tortured for 13 days before escaping from his captors in the village of Boliqueime, near the town of Loule, on Monday.

He was found bleeding in the street in the nearby village of Alfontes by local man Carlos Pereira. Asking Pereira to call the police, Ross claimed to have been involved in a car accident.

The police investigation is continuing and the four suspects are expected to appear in court in Portugal at a later date.