CAMPAIGNERS have formally complained to the European Commission about Scottish Ministers failing to halt plans to transfer millions of tonnes of crude oil between tankers at the mouth of the Cromarty Firth.

Locals who oppose the ship to ship (STS) application because the proposed mooring points are in open water within a leading European dolphin site and close to other designated nature sites have taken legal advice after Marine Scotland failed to intervene in the application.

The Cromarty Firth Port Authority (CFPA) is preparing a new application to continue with its highly controversial project that potentially put a colony of bottlenose dolphins at risk.

It was told last year by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) that it must conduct a wide ranging consultation of all interested parties if it is applying again.

Scottish ministers have consistently not intervened in the application as they claim that the matter is reserved under Merchant shipping laws.

But legal advisors for locals now say that a separate licence must be obtained from government agency Marine Scotland under Article 12 of the European Protected Species Directive as it will affect a colony of bottlenose dolphins.

Now they have written to the Commission in Brussels claiming that Scottish Ministers have breached the directive as development plans involving European protected species are devolved as they come under planning laws.

Ian Cowan, Environmental and Planning lawyer and consultant said: "For some reason, ministers not only refused to engage properly with the proposal when consulted, they also refuse to acknowledge they have the power to stop it.

"It is hiding behind the fact that one part of the Habitats Directive is dealt with by a UK agency under reserved powers, while ducking its own responsibility for another part under devolved powers.

"The residents have already waited 8 months for an answer, so now they have submitted a complaint to the European Commission.

"If the Scottish Government is “sticking steadfastly to its environmental commitments”, one has to wonder why a complaint to the EU Commission is necessary at all."

Cromarty Rising, the group leading the opposition fear an oil spill would herald environmental catastrophe and sabotage the local economy.

However they do not oppose a resumption of STS between tankers firmly secured to the nearby jetty at Nigg which have been conducted safely over 30 years.

The group has already sent a petition to Holyrood calling on MSPs to urge the Scottish Government to ensure environmental legislation in Scotland is sufficient to prevent STS of crude oil in environmentally sensitive locations, such as the Inner Moray Firth, and to enhance the accountability of trust port boards to their stakeholders.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "We have made our position on this matter clear - powers over the licensing of ship to ship oil transfers are reserved to the UK Government and must be devolved for applications in Scottish waters.

"The waters of the Cromarty Firth are a haven for seals and dolphins and Scottish Ministers are far from convinced oil transfers could take place there without an unacceptable risk to the marine environment.

"We are not aware of any current application to the UK Government for a new ship to ship oil transfer licence either in the Cromarty and Moray Firths, or in any of Scotland’s waters, but we would expect the UK Government to invite Scottish Ministers and local communities to respond to any future applications."