Operations resume at Grangemouth

The Grangemouth refinery is Scotland's main fuel supplier

The Grangemouth refinery has started to process crude oil less than a week after it was closed down due to industrial action, bosses have said.

Workers at the Ineos plant took part in a 48-hour walkout, which began on Sunday, in protest at changes to the company's pension scheme.

The 1,700-acre refinery is Scotland's main fuel supplier.

Talks between Ineos and the Unite trade union are likely to take place next week in a bid to resolve the dispute.

Before the industrial action, the refinery was producing nine million litres of clean fuel a day and processing 210,000 barrels of oil.

An Ineos spokesman said that although the plant's crude units were operational, it would be at least two weeks before the whole site was at 100% capacity.

The start-up of the plant has led the area's strategic co-ordinating group to warn local residents about increased flaring coming from the plant.

Further talks

In a statement, the group said: "Flaring often takes place on site as part of the restart programme to safely disperse some of the by-products found in the petro-chemical industry.

"Falkirk Council and Sepa, as key partners in the Central Scotland Strategic Co-ordinating Group, are working with Ineos to ensure that disruption to local communities is kept to a minimum.

"Members of the public should not be alarmed by this increased activity which is administered under strict safety procedures."

It is understood Ineos has withdrawn, for now, plans to close its final salary pension scheme for new employees.

This is the main issue at the heart of the industrial dispute which sparked last weekend's strike, the first for 73 years.

Jim Ratcliffe, owner of the refinery, met union leaders earlier this week.

Those discussions were described as "constructive" by both sides and appear to have paved the way for further talks towards the end of next week.

The dispute, which prompted the Grangemouth refinery shutdown, has also led to petrol shortages and closed BP's Forties pipeline.

The fresh talks are likely to take place at the Grangemouth site.