Summit held on Diageo job losses

About 700 jobs could be lost at the Johnnie Walker plant in Kilmarnock

The campaign to save two Diageo plants earmarked for closure has gained "new momentum" following a summit in Glasgow, it has been claimed.

The city's Labour MSP for Maryhill, Patricia Ferguson, said discussions had taken place on how an alternative business plan could save jobs.

The meeting was attended by councils, unions and politicians.

It is part of an ongoing campaign to persuade the drinks giant to abandon plans to cut up to 900 Scottish jobs.

Diageo proposes to close its Johnnie Walker bottling plant in Kilmarnock and the Port Dundas distillery in Glasgow.

About 700 jobs would be lost with the closure of the East Ayrshire bottling plant and as many as 200 with the closure of the Glasgow facility.

The staff at Port Dundas and Kilmarnock stand shoulder to shoulder with each other in their determination to save their jobs and as politicians, our job is to support them

Patricia Ferguson MSP

Diageo has said the redundancies would be offset by the creation of 400 jobs at its packaging plant in Leven, Fife.

It estimates the closure plans should save £20m each year, from an investment of £100m.

Scottish Enterprise, the government's enterprise agency, is co-ordinating an effort to draw up a plan for an alternative to closure.

The company has said it will co-operate with that effort and listen to its conclusions.

Ms Ferguson, whose Maryhill constituency includes the threatened Port Dundas distillery, described Friday's summit in Glasgow as "excellent".

'Alternative proposal'

She said: "We leave more united than ever. The staff at Port Dundas and Kilmarnock stand shoulder to shoulder with each other in their determination to save their jobs and as politicians, our job is to support them.

"We also discussed, what we believe, must be in the Scottish Government's alternative proposal, and the next steps in the campaign.

"There is now renewed momentum in the campaign, and now we are moving to the next stage.

"The meeting today was useful in planning how we are going to take it forward and make sure we do everything we can to save the jobs at both sites."