A BID to turn Greenock's historic Sugar Sheds into a national museum focused on the slave trade and human rights has taken a significant step forward.

MSP Stuart McMillan and his campaign group are pressing ahead with the plan, which they say would put Greenock at the heart of a cultural revolution, bring jobs and help regenerate the area.

Both the sheds and the Tobacco Warehouse would be at the heart of an effort to recognise the area's links with slavery and other infamous historical events like the Highland Clearances.

Now the working group - which included Inverclyde Council - has put a formal proposal to the Scottish Government.

Mr McMillan said: “If the Black Lives Matter movement has taught us anything it is that we cannot hide from our history.

"We need to acknowledge it, learn about it and ensure we never make the same mistakes again.

“With Inverclyde’s troubled past in relation to the transatlantic slave trade, I believe a National Human Rights Museum located in Greenock would be the ideal location."

In the last year the group has spoken to the curator for the National Slavery Museum in Liverpool Dr. Richard Benjamin, who gave them an insight into its running.

Mr McMillan said: "I firmly believe that we could have a similar museum right in the heart of Inverclyde, not only telling the story of the transatlantic slave trade but teaching people, young and old, about human rights issues across the world and right here in Scotland."

Mr McMillan is working with MP Ronnie Cowan, council leader Stephen McCabe and West College Scotland principal Liz Connolly among others to bring the idea to life.

The proposal sets out Inverclyde's links to the tobacco trade and the sugar barons synonymous with the transatlantic slave trade.

It also highlights a famous visit, to a Greenock church, of American abolitionist and social reformer Frederick Douglass at the height of the practice.

Artist Matthew Hickman, who sat on the steering group, said: "There have been a lot of great moments in the history of Scotland but there have also been a lot of dark ones.

"We need to accept both in equal measure.

"Greenock is no exception to this rule, in fact, it has a deeper tie to the transatlantic slave trade than most.

“The Museum of Human Rights offers an opportunity to build a creative hub in Inverclyde with education at the forefront."

College principal Ms Connolly added: "It is important that we know our history, and that we learn from it.

“The proposed National Human Rights Museum will be critical in helping Scotland to learn from its past.

"Greenock is an ideal location for the museum and the educational, economic and cultural impact of this project will be significant, locally and across Scotland."