Labour councillor Alex Gallagher has warned that some islanders are taking great risk by transporting jerry cans with petrol to their home garages due to the lack of a fuel supply on the island.

Speaking during the recent North Coast and Cumbraes committee meeting, held at Largs Library, Cllr. Gallagher again voiced his disappointment that the Cumbrae Community Development Company had not taken the proposal on board to help provide a fuel supply station on the island.

Cllr. Gallagher slammed the practice of taking jerry cans over by ferry, saying there was the subsequent danger of causing a fire, and commented: “This has to be stopped - it is illegal. If this happens in a council house, then who then has to pay for this if there is an accident? Someone will have to pay - it wouldn’t be the insurers as it would be null and void. People need to think about the serious consequences of their actions.” He added that he hoped that proposal to provide a community fuel supply, also backed by Conservative Cllr. Tom Marshall, was given strong consideration and followed through as far as possible.

However, SNP councillor Alan Hill said that the vast majority on the island do have an interest in provision of a fuel supply on the island, but stated that there were a number of difficult obstacles which would need to be overcome.

Firstly, he stated that there was not a suitable location as it stands for a community fuel service as the Garrison had already been ruled out by CCDC, as the group were looking to reduce the amount of traffic at the site, as opposed to adding to it.

Cllr. Hill also stated that it was not illegal to transport jerry cans to the island, and said that as long as Caledonian MacBrayne were given sufficient warning, it was allowed, and made the point that there was one specific sailing per day to provide for such a service.

Secondly, he added that there were extensive financial costs towards having a community fuel supply on the island, and there was little incentive for a community group to pursue such a possibility.

Cllr. Gallagher responded that he didn’t want to get into an argument, but wanted to follow the process through to see if the island wanted such a facility or not.

While the Cumbrae Community Development Company rejected spearheading the project, they did respond that they would be happy to speak to the councillors, and try and progress the situation in search of another group on the island, if they were so willing, to take on the scheme.

A spokesman for Cal Mac said: "We do not allow members of the public to carry small quantities of petrol on the ferry for safety reasons, but fuel can be carried if it meets dangerous goods legislation requirements.ie CalMac`s policy is to allow shipment of dangerous goods including petrol if 24 hours notice is given and we are in receipt of dangerous goods note SITPRO 2009.

"We carry out weekly checks for dangerous goods including petrol and if found we refuse shipment or allow travel minus dangerous substance. We would then allow travel on a designated sailing and depending on the substance a reduced passenger certificate would be in force.

"We would be happy to discuss further with relevant groups to clarify the legal requirements of carrying fuel by ferry."