Highlands and Islands MSP Donald Cameron has responded to Scottish Government proposals to construct new bridges and tunnels to Scotland’s island communities with a demand that ministers concentrate on fixing the region’s roads and ferry fleet.

The Scottish Conservative MSP said: “Unsurprisingly, the reaction to these proposals from local people has been one of exasperation.

“This SNP Government has presided over the deterioration of our ferry service and roads for a decade and a half, but it now has the gall to tell us that if we wait for twenty years then we may have a wonderful network of new tunnels and bridges.

“What we really need is action from ministers to tackle the crisis facing island residents who don’t know from one day to the next whether they will be able to travel to the mainland due to ferry cancellations.

“And when they finally get to the mainland they are faced with the likelihood of diversions and delays because of landslips or patchwork repairs being made to the roads.

“By all means make plans for the long-term, but there is an urgent job to be done right now to fix the ferries and the roads.”