Â鶹ԼÅÄ

More than 40 former employees of the collapsed company behind Scotland's bottle deposit return scheme are launching a compensation claim.

The staff lost their jobs when Circularity Scotland went into administration last month.

Solicitors at Thompsons are lodging a "protective award" claim with the Tribunals Service on behalf of the workers.

They claim the staff were dismissed without proper statutory consultation.

If successful, the claimants could each receive several thousands of pounds from the Insolvency Service.

David Martyn, head of employment law at Thompsons, said: "The law obliges employers who are thinking about dismissing staff on a large scale to consult with their employees to seek their views on ways of avoiding redundancies.

"It is extremely disappointing that those in charge of Circularity Scotland made no effort to comply with their legal obligations.

"In all likelihood, it is the taxpayer who will have to pay for this mistake."

Circularity Scotland collapsed after the scheme was delayed until 2025. Most of its 60 staff were made redundant with immediate effect.

Last month, the chairman of the state-owned Scottish National Investment Bank said he expected to lose more than half of a £9m loan given to Circularity Scotland.

Willie Watt told MSPs that the whole sum could be lost after the company called in administrators.

Circular Economy Minister Lorna Slater said she was forced to delay the scheme after being put in an "impossible position" due to conditions demanded by UK government

Ministers at Westminster rejected this claim, and said they simply wanted the scheme to be in line with similar proposals planned for elsewhere in the UK.

Circularity Scotland chief executive David Harris said the scheme remained "viable" even after the UK government imposed conditions including the removal of glass from the initiative.