Corran Ferry service could get city deal cash

Highland Council's five-minute car ferry service was hit by major disruption last year

Money earmarked for road improvements in Inverness could be diverted to help the struggling Corran Ferry service in Lochaber.

Plans for a multi-million pound upgrade of the Longman interchange on the A9 had been agreed as part of the Inverness and Highland city region deal.

However, Highland councillors have agreed that the local authority should ask the Scottish government to change the agreed investment priorities of the deal so money can instead be put towards a new ferry.

The council said there was a "critical" need for improvements to the Corran Ferry service following lengthy outages last year.

Wellbeing Economy Secretary Màiri McAllan said that the Scottish government would be "happy to consider" any formal change requests submitted by Highland Council.