A row between an airport operator and a fuel supplier is preventing emergency helicopters from re-fuelling at Oban at night.
Scottish Ambulance Service helicopter and police flights can no longer refuel after 5pm at the local airport.
Fuel supplier Paul Keegan, director of Total Logistic Concepts (TLC), says airport operator Argyll and Bute Council has made it unsafe for him to accept night time customers, by placing a storage container near his office, blocking his view of landings.
Mr Keegan, who has operated a fuelling company for the airport for 17 years, said: “The council put a big container in front of our office which restricts our view of the apron where helicopters land at night.
“We must have visual and two way communication with them.
“It gives us a big problem at night. I gave the council two options, move the container, or bring in staff at night to do visual and radio with helicopters.
“Our standard operating procedures are that we must be able to see it landing and taking off at night.”
A council spokesman insisted: “Legally there is no requirement for the fuel supplier to have sight of an aircraft landing.”
The spokesman said: “The Scottish Ambulance Service has confirmed that it has already made arrangements to ensure that air ambulance operations will continue as normal in the Western Isles, with extra fuel supplies being stored on Islay and Tiree.
“This situation has been caused by the private fuel supplier, who has a lease to be the sole supplier of aviation fuel at Oban Airport until 2017, withdrawing their services overnight.
“The business hours that company wishes to operate are entirely a matter for them.
“Following the Scottish Ambulance Service requesting our assistance, we have been working to help them in developing further contingencies, one of which may involve the storage of fuel at our other two airports, on Coll and Colonsay.”
A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesman said: “We have been in ongoing discussions with all the parties involved in the dispute about provision of night time refuelling at Oban airport in the hope that they can come to an agreement as soon as possible.
“In the meantime, we have made arrangements for extra fuel supplies at Tiree and Islay to refuel our helicopters at night, which ensures that air ambulance operations are continuing as usual in the western isles.”