SCOTTISH ministers “do not want to see” compulsory redundancies at Ferguson Marine, Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney said today.

The publicly owned shipyard announced plans earlier this week to shed up to 70 staff through a voluntary redundancy scheme.

Mr Swinney said: “The government obviously has a policy in relation to not pursuing compulsory redundancies and we do not want to see that applied in these circumstances.”

He added that he would like to see the same applied to the workforce at the Port Glasgow yard, adding he “very much regrets” the job losses.

Ferguson’s chief executive Graeme Thomson blamed an “inevitable gap” in work as it prepares to hand over the second of two delayed and over-budget ferries.

He added that completing the Glen Rosa — which along with its already-in-service sister ship the Glen Sannox is years late and almost four times its original cost — is the “immediate focus.”