Last-minute reprieve for emergency tugs as government finds £3m funding

SCOTLAND’S two emergency tugs have received a stay of execution just hours before they were due to be axed.

Contracts for the emergency towing vessels in the Minch and off Orkney and Shetland were due to end last night. In a dramatic turnaround the UK government announced the vessels had been given a last-minute lifeline after ministers found £3 million funding for the next three months.

A Scotland Office spokesman said: “The UK Government believes it is worth a final attempt to find a solution and the Scotland Office will lead the effort.”

Scottish Secretary Michael Moore and Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander have been involved in talks about the tugs’ future, while campaigners have lobbied to keep the vessels.

A spokesman for Shetland Islands Council said: “The government has recognised the merits of the campaign we and our partners have made.”

Environment secretary Richard Lochhead said: “It’s now important that the UK government identify and fund a long-term solution otherwise the contract will come to an end bang in the middle of winter, which would be dangerous.”