REGENERATION chiefs are drawing up a 'plan B' after a bid to put Inverclyde at the heart of a major jobs and investment drive was rejected.

Inverclyde Council leader Stephen McCabe has warned that the Scottish and UK governments' joint decision not accept the Clyde Green Freeport bid - and instead giving the coveted status to rival east coast areas - could put the district at a serious disadvantage.

It was hoped that the bid, which brought Inverclyde together with a host of other local authorities, businesses and agencies across Scotland's west coast, could help kickstart the region's economy and bring jobs.

The local authority's environment and regeneration chief, Stuart Jamieson, has now confirmed that council officials are now exploring alternative means of investment and funding following the snub.

Speaking at a full council meeting, Mr Jamieson said: "It was very disappointing that we weren't successful with our bid.

"We have had feedback from both Scottish Government and UK Government officials, which identified that the bid was a strong one and it was presented to ministers for consideration.

"We have met with government officials and what we're looking at with our private sector partners and our public sector colleagues is a plan B, to see what can be done to offset the loss of the bid for the benefit of both the metropolitan city region and more specifically ourselves in Inverclyde."

Speaking at the same meeting, Councillor Colin Jackson said that while he did not believe freeports were a sound concept, he wanted to know about the steps the area was taking to avoid being disadvantaged by the decision to award it to Inverness and Cromarty Firth and the Firth of Forth.

Municipal Buildings boss Mr Jamieson stated that a successful freeport bid could have brought up to £25m of investment to the region, with other benefits stemming from the retention of business rates.

Council leader Stephen McCabe also raised concerns that losing out on the bid could impact Inverclyde negatively.

He said: "The reason that we bid for the green freeport was because we knew there were going to be two in Scotland and we'd rather have one of them in the west than not.

"And we have ended up in a situation where there's one not in the west.

"There is a very real fear that the east will benefit from a green freeport to the detriment of the west."

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