The UK Government has been inundated with bids from Highland filling stations eager to join its cut-price fuel scheme.
Chief Treasury Secretary Danny Alexander revealed yesterday that 42 retailers in rural areas across Britain have applied to be part of the 5p-a-litre discount project.
Officials said that 21 – half of the total number of petrol stations to contact the Treasury about the flagship initiative – were based in the Highlands.
Mr Alexander, MP for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey, confirmed that the bids were currently being assessed and that an application to extend the fuel discount would be made to the European Commission next month.
The Treasury was forced last month to relaunch its consultation on expanding the rebate from the islands, where the scheme is already operating, to remote parts of the mainland after a flood of complaints from retailers in the north.
The initial evidence-gathering exercise led to 10 communities being put forward for the rebate, seven of which were in the Highlands, but concerns were raised that some of the most remote areas – such as Sutherland – had been excluded, and that the consultation period had been too short.
Charles Kennedy, MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber, previously raised complaints from his constituents.
The former Liberal Democrat leader asked Mr Alexander for an update on the second consultation process during Treasury questions at Westminster yesterday.
The Cabinet minister responded: “That call for information closed on Friday, although .
“We received information from a further 42 filling stations. We are analysing the data at the moment, and will make a full application to Brussels in January.”
The European Commission has to approve the scheme because it involves state intervention in the market.
Mr Kennedy said: “I thank my right honourable friend for that reply, and for the helpful way his department and officials have taken account of local factors that have led to such an upsurge in feedback.”