A TORY MSP from Greenock has blasted a local councillor's call for bars to be closed down amid the rise in coronavirus infection rates.

West of Scotland list Conservative Jamie Greene hit out after the SNP's Chris McEleny said consideration should be given to shutting pubs down once again.

Mr Greene highlighted the Scottish Licensed Trade Association making it clear that up to 12,500 jobs remain at risk across Scotland in the hospitality sector.

He said: “Calls from Councillor Chris McEleny for west coast pubs to close could be taken as a massive kick in the teeth by the landlords and hospitality staff across Inverclyde who play by the rules and are busting their guts to recoup a living.

“Perhaps he ought to feed his views to his own SNP First Minister, rather than tweeting willy-nilly about why he wants to shut business down, when he doesn’t have all the scientific facts and advice that the government has at its disposal.”

Mr Greene spoke out after Mr McEleny was quoted as saying it was 'not compatible to have pubs across the country open when we are seeing new cases at a rate that previously we were in a country wide lockdown to get them under control'.

Cllr McEleny had said: "Pubs being open has clearly desensitised our caution at a population level with people regularly asking why can I not visit a family member, why can I not go to a funeral, or go here or there when pubs are full across the country."