Six-month closure of busy port reduced to 14 weeks

An upgrade of a major west coast ferry port has been revised in an effort to drastically reduce the time it will be out of action.

The closure of Skye's Uig pier next year will disrupt services to Harris and also North Uist in the Western Isles.

Uig provides Harris with its only direct route to the mainland, and one of two routes out of Uist.

The Scottish government said it had invested an extra £6m on top of the £38m it had already committed to the project to help reduce the time the pier would be closed - from almost six months to three.

The work will also be split over two periods, with one from 16 January to 13 March and the second from 30 October to 11 December.

There had been calls from islanders in the Western Isles for steps to be taken to reduce the length of time services were disrupted, or for the redevelopment to be delayed.

Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth said the Scottish government had listened to the concerns.

Ferry operator CalMac plans to carry affected passengers on other routes, and is also looking to bring in a second-hand ferry to help cope with demand during the closures of Uig's pier.