Airport upgrade could be delayed

Funding for the upgrade was announced by ministers in 2005

A multi-million pound project to upgrade Oban Airport could be delayed after a contract to supply fire equipment had to be scrapped.

Argyll and Bute Council has refused to accept two new appliances from Angloco.

The local authority, which owns the airport, said the supplier failed to meet delivery deadlines or provide the vehicles to the required standards.

Ministers announced £6m funding for the airport in 2005, to create a major air hub for the Highlands and Islands.

The project was also set up to create new, licensed airfields on the islands of Coll and Colonsay.

Argyll and Bute Council said the appliances, ordered in April 2006, would not have been cleared by the regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority.

The authority is now making other arrangements and said it aimed to have alternative fire appliances in place as quickly as possible.

However council leader Dick Walsh told BBC Scotland: "There is the potential for delay.

"Our target date for the airport is October 2007, but we're hoping that we can catch up with that following early source of vehicles that we know are available to us and are suitable for purpose."