PLANNING permission has been given for Ferguson’s of Port Glasgow to build new £2 million offices.

The three-floor building will be on the parking area behind the town’s fire station.

Inverclyde Council planning officials approved the proposal, which is part of ambitious plans to make the yard fit for the 21st century and able to build bigger ships.

The £12m investment programme will transform the shipbuilding and fabrication facilities, enabling the yard to build more ships at the same time and expand work in fabrication for oil, gas and renewable energy projects.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney visited the yard in November to announce that a hundred jobs would be created and a further 125 safeguarded as a result of a £1m grant from Scottish Enterprise.

He said the Regional Selective Assistance grant would boost the number of full-time jobs at the site from 150 to 250.

The funding will help contribute to Ferguson Marine’s refurbishment of the yard and the purchase of new equipment.

The last commercial shipbuilding company on the Clyde was bought in 2014 by Clyde Blowers Capital, owned by billionaire Jim McColl.

His takeover rescued it from the scrapheap after it plunged into administration.

Since then Mr McColl and his team have sparked a dramatic revival in the yard’s fortunes.

Its order book includes one worth £97m for Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) to build two dual fuel ferries, the largest commercial vessels to be built on the Clyde since 2001.

Redevelopment work has been going on for several months at the yard, with the famous facade disappearing and outdated buildings being removed to make way for modern facilities.