A north-east skipper leading the fight to save the night watchman post at Macduff harbour has presented a petition with more than 1,000 names to council chiefs.
John Clark, skipper of the Reliance II, launched the campaign earlier this year when it emerged Aberdeenshire Council was moving to scrap the watchmen as part of a revamp.
But Mr Clark and other leading figures in the local fishing industry warned the policy would endanger the lives of trawlermen and discourage vessels from landing fish on the Banffshire coastline.
A community petition collected hundreds of signatures and yesterday Mr Clark delivered the papers to senior council figures – including infrastructure boss Stephen Archer and councillors Jim Gifford, Peter Argyle, Norman Smith and John Cox – at Woodhill House.
“I had a meeting with Stephen Archer and I put forward our case for why the watchmen need to stay,” Mr Clark said last night.
“Without the watchmen the harbour would be dead. Boats won’t come to a harbour where they don’t feel safe. People think it’s outrageous to axe the watchmen service – it’s been a massive show of people power.”
Mr Clark said he and his fellow skippers want to improve the harbour as an asset to the town which can boost the regeneration of the area – a priority of the local authority.
He added: “It’s a cutback far too far. I was really impressed with the council, they listened and hopefully there will be further talks ahead of the infrastructure meeting on June 1.”
Mr Clark has applied to speak at the upcoming meeting of the infrastructure committee. That discussion will be led by the committee’s deputy chairman John Cox.
The Banff and district councillor said: “John highlighted a number of commercial opportunities for the harbour this can offer.
I thank John for putting forward his thoughts and I’ll look forward to further talks.”
The independent councillor, who is part of the administration at Woodhill House, said he appreciated the “strength of feeling” in the local area.