Scottish ministers are to continue their call for cash in advance to spread the cost of the £2bn new Forth Road Bridge, despite the Treasury rejecting the request.

Scotland's Finance Secretary, John Swinney, told BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland programme his approach was the responsible way to guarantee construction of the new crossing.

Mr Swinney said: "We have the money to pay for this crossing through our traditional capital budgets. We have £3.5bn of a capital expenditure programme every year and the Forth replacement crossing will cost us about £1.7bn over a five to six-year period."

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However he said: "The cost of doing that is that there would be, unfortunately, delays to other projects."

Mr Swinney said: "We're trying to get the Treasury to give them the type of flexibility that any other normal administration would have by being able to borrow to pay for a once-in-a-generation project like the Forth replacement crossing and spread those payments over a period of years."

Yvette Cooper, the chief secretary to the treasury, said the Scottish Government's request was not credible and alternatives including building up a big under spend or using a PPP tie-up with the private sector were suggested.

Minister Swinney said the Scottish Futures Trust is there to essentially bring about collaboration between different projects of a smaller scale to deliver value for money such as healthcare developments and school buildings rather than a single, generational build.

(GK/KMcA)