Many holidays in Scotland have been blighted by midges

A team at Aberdeen University has been awarded a share of a �5.6m Scottish Executive funding package for research into combatting the midge menace.

The tiny insects, which are most prevalent in the west of Scotland during the summer, have blighted many holidays.

And it is thought that swarms of midges which leave loads of itchy bites might be having a detrimental effect on the tourism industry.

Safe and effective

Researchers at Aberdeen University are trying to establish why midges bite some people while leaving others alone.

They hope this information will help them develop a safe and effective repellent which acts with the body's own defences, effectively making humans "invisible" to the insects.

Dr Jennifer Mordue, who is leading the research, said: "Our repellents are based on an entirely new idea which is to use chemicals from ourselves.

"What we hope to do is identify compounds from people who are less attractive to midges so that we can use them on people who are very attractive to midges."

Ms Mordue said that the cues which attract midges have been identified but it is not known what makes a person less attractive to midges.