A woman who was assaulted by her husband was unable to find a legal aid lawyer to handle her divorce - despite asking more than 116 law firms to take on the case.

The mother-of-two, from the Highlands, said none of the companies were willing or able to work with her.

Her struggle highlights the challenges facing the system, with the Law Society of Scotland claiming a third of legal aid lawyers are due to retire over the next decade.

The Scottish government minister responsible for legal aid described her plight as "unacceptable" and promised reforms were on the way.

The woman, who asked not to be named, qualified for state assistance because she was on universal credit and readily admits her case involved complex issues which would take time to resolve.

She says some firms turned her down because she lives in the Highlands, while others said they were no longer taking civil legal aid cases. Some did not reply or give a reason.

"It made an extremely difficult, traumatic experience that much harder to deal with," the woman told BBC Scotland News.

"To get constant rejections just left me in an even deeper pit of despair and despondency."