Communities on Scotland’s west coast could soon learn whether they will be included in a ferry compensation scheme after fresh questions were raised at Holyrood.

The Island Business Resilience Fund was introduced to support businesses affected by ongoing disruption to ferry services, but several mainland coastal communities, including Mallaig, Dunoon and Ardrossan, are currently excluded.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats argue those towns have also suffered economic consequences from cancelled and delayed sailings and should receive the same support as island communities.

Highlands and Islands MSP Morven May MacCallum has now lodged a parliamentary question asking the Scottish Government to clarify whether it intends to extend the scheme.

The move follows comments by First Minister John Swinney in June indicating that details of how the fund would be taken forward and distributed would be announced.

The Liberal Democrats say no further update has been provided and are seeking confirmation on whether coastal communities will be included.

Morven May MacCallum said:

“Scottish Liberal Democrats have long campaigned for the government to fairly compensate the islands and coastal towns affected by the ferries fiasco.

“It was that campaign which led to the government bringing forward the Island Business Resilience Scheme, but we were concerned to see gaps in its eligibility.

“As it stands, towns like Dunoon and Mallaig don’t see a penny in compensation, despite delayed and cancelled ferries hitting their local economies hard.

“The First Minister hinted that he was addressing these shortfalls, but that was more than a month ago.

“Coastal communities have been messed around for long enough.

“The least they deserve is a clear answer about whether this compensation will be extended to them and, if so, when that will take place.”

Ferry reliability remains a major issue for many communities across the Highlands and Islands, with businesses continuing to warn that disrupted services affect tourism, trade and day to day travel.

Whether the resilience fund will be expanded to include mainland coastal communities is now expected to become clearer once the Scottish Government responds to the parliamentary question.