Ferguson ferry bid document was largely copied

A BBC documentary has uncovered evidence of irregularities in the awarding of a £97m contract for two CalMac ferries.

Ferguson Marine won the deal in 2015 based on a bid that was said to be the best quality, but the construction of the ships has been beset by problems.

A dossier of leaked documents reveals that a key section of the Ferguson bid was largely copied from a detailed 424-page specification produced by CalMac which was not available to other bidders.

The BBC understands Ferguson had access to the CalMac document because its design contractor had also worked on an earlier phase of the tender process.

The Scottish government's ferries procurement agency CMAL has said to the best of its knowledge it did not pass the CalMac document to Ferguson.