FERGUSON'S in Port Glasgow could be sold for just £1 under the terms of a £45m loan agreement with the Scottish Government.

According to reports, a clause in the contract between both parties means ministers can take over the yard for just a quid.

The Tele has also learned that a public inquiry into the government's involvement in the yard now looks extremely likely.

Greenock businessman Sandy Easdale - who along with younger brother James expressed interest in the yard when it went into administration in 2014 - has already called for a high-level probe.

Details of the government's £1 takeover option emerged after ministers knocked back an offer from Ferguson's owner Jim McColl to resolve the long-running dispute over a £97m contract for two new CalMac ferries.

The final bill for MV Glen Sannox and Hull 802, as it is currently known, is now expected to cost double the original contract price agreed with publicly-owned Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL), which is also based in the Port.

Mr McColl, who saved Ferguson's five years ago and spearheaded a radical multi-million pound transformation of the yard, has offered to pay around £50m of the overrun if the government will meet him half-way and stump up the rest in return for a stake in the firm.

But ministers have rejected the deal, saying it contains 'a number of serious risks to the public purse' and does not offer 'value for money'.

It now looks increasingly likely that the yard will be nationalised if an agreement cannot be reached, which would cost CBC around £30m.

The row over the ferries contract is complicated by the fact ministers have given Ferguson's £45m worth of loans since Mr McColl's takeover .

It is understood the company is currently unable to repay the money.

A source told the Tele that a public probe into the whole debacle is 'almost certain'.

They said: "Without any doubt, there will have to be a parliamentary inquiry into this."

McGill's Buses owner, Mr Easdale, who owns the Greenock-based company with his sibling, says they stepped aside five years ago 'in good faith' to allow Mr McColl to take it over.

Speaking to a national newspaper, he said: "There should be a public inquiry into this fiasco because it's the workers and the town who will end up suffering the most - as well as huge reputational damage to Clydeside shipbuilding."

CBC and the Scottish Government were asked for responses.