Union Unite has called on both the UK and Scottish Government's to "take a much more active role" in helping to protect the North Sea oil and gas industry.

The organisation made the plea after a new report from industry body Oil & Gas UK showed investment had fallen in the sector from £14.8 billion in 2014 to around £9 billion in 2015.

Unite's Scottish secretary, Pat Rafferty, said it recognises unions and the industry cannot solve the crisis by themselves.

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"We need government to take a much more active role in dealing with the major issues facing the North Sea," he said.

"In July, we said that the UK Government's Oil and Gas Workforce Plan was woefully inadequate and fell short of arresting a decline in the industry which has led to over 120,000 jobs being axed in the past few years.

"The report says that there has been a 45% drop in the cost of extracting a barrel of oil or gas. Our fear is that a large part of that figure has come from unsustainable cuts to jobs, pay and conditions. 

"Companies have to realise that they can't prop up their profits - or create a sustainable industry - by simply attacking the offshore and onshore workers employed in the oil and gas industry who are the bedrock of their success."

(LM)