Nicola Sturgeon has said the “buck stops with me”, as she was accused of “one of the worst public spending disasters” since devolution.

It comes after a scathing Audit Scotland report set out “a multitude of failings” in the delivery of two ferries for Scotland’s island routes – now almost four years late.

The auditor said that the two vessels being built at Ferguson Marine will now cost at least £240m, two-and-a-half times their original price.

Raising the issue at First Minister’s Questions, Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said it was “one of the most reckless decisions ever taken” by a Scottish Government.

Responding to Ross, Sturgeon acknowledged that the problems with the construction of the ferries is “far from satisfactory”.

“Let me say very candidly, the problems with the construction of these ferries, which resulted in delay, cost-overruns and an impact, a very negative impact on island communities, is far from satisfactory, and I think that is putting it mildly,” she said.

Want to see more SNP fails? – Politics Matters