FAILED MISERABLY

Workers hit out at governments over fruitless intervention | Refinery lost ₤381,000 per day in the last week

- CHRIS MCCALL

WORKERS at Scotland's last oil refinery are "angry" at the failure of the Scottish and UK governments to prevent its closure.

Union leaders warned the first test of a "just transition" of fossil fuel jobs to greener industries had "failed miserably".

It comes after Petroineos confirmed on Thursday refining operations at Grangemouth will cease next spring after more than a century of operation.

The energy giant - a joint venture between the Chinese state and Jim Ratcliffe-owned Ineos has pulled the plug despite extensive meetings with ministers from Holyrood and Westminster since it first announced the closure plans in November last year.

The decision to shutter the refinery and convert to a fuels import depot will see more than 400 highly skilled jobs lost over the next two years.

John Swinney met unions and workers' representatives in Falkirk yesterday and urged Petroineos to reconsider what he called its "premature" decision to push ahead with the closure. The Scottish and UK governments previously issued a joint response which highlighted £100million of planned public investment in the wider Falkirk and Grangemouth area in the coming years.

Ministers have also launched Project Willow in an attempt to secure the long-term future of the huge industrial site on the banks of the Forth.