A Scottish tourist has been seriously injured in a suspected gas explosion that destroyed his holiday home in Rome.

Grant Paterson, 54, was rescued on Saturday morning from the rubble of a three-storey building in the Monteverde area of the Italian capital.

Mr Paterson, from East Kilbride in Lanarkshire, is understood to be receiving treatment for severe burns at Rome’s Sant’Eugenio hospital.

Roberto Gualtieri, the Mayor of Rome, has visited the scene and has ordered an investigation into the explosion.

It is understood that Mr Paterson, who works for Scottish ferry operator CalMac, arrived in Rome last week on a solo trip.

In a post on social media he wrote: “Accommodation is beautiful. This should be a good week.”

According to local news site Roma Today, he was pulled out of the ruins conscious and is believed to have suffered serious burns to 75% of his body.

Mayor Gualtieri told reporters: “We don’t know his exact condition, but he suffered burns, and this also suggests that it was an explosion caused by gas, which also causes flames.

“It was a very loud explosion, a building collapsed and the wall of Villa Pamphili was also damaged.”