Online shoppers in more rural parts of Scotland face 'sky-high delivery fees'

Annual delivery surcharges for Inverness and Nairn amount to almost 7.24 million.

Data from the independent Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Spice) show annual delivery surcharges for Inverness and Nairn amount to almost £7.24 million.

Other areas where shoppers rack up the charges include Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch at £6.27 million, while in Caithness, Sutherland and Ross and Argyll and Bute the charges amount to £4.8 million and £3.1 million respectively.

The SNP has now demanded action on the issue, with Moray MSP Richard Lochhead campaigning against the "sky-high surcharges".

Raising the issue ahead of Black Friday - one of the busiest days of the year for online shopping - the SNP MSP said: "Westminster has the powers to put an end to rip-off parcel delivery surcharges for Scots - but for too long now successive UK governments have sat on their hands and done nothing.

"It is completely unjust that shoppers in Moray and the north of Scotland are expected to fork out huge sums of money each year on these surcharges.

"Alongside my colleagues in Westminster I have led the campaign and repeatedly raised this issue with UK ministers, but they have refused to listen, while delivery surcharges continue to hit the pockets of families across Scotland.

"It's time for the next UK government to take some real concrete action and get a grip of these sky-high surcharge fees."