A former UK Government minister has called for an independent review into west coast ferry services.

Brian Wilson says there are "urgent" problems and a "general review of what has gone wrong" is needed.

Mr Wilson, who served as trade and energy minister for Labour and is chair of Harris Tweed Hebrides, said: "What you need is a whole review, not just what is happening at the present but what's going to be happening in two, five, ten years' time."

It comes during another summer of disruption to west coast ferries.

One of the routes, Arran to Oban, has been impacted in recent days after the breakdown of one of CalMac's vessels.

Other ferries have been moved to different routes to accommodate the breakdown but it has meant passengers facing delays and others turning up to port to find the ferry full.

Local businesses say it is having an impact with B&B's facing cancellations from tourists who cannot get to their destination.

CalMac are responsible for the operation of the ferries but the procurement is done by Caledonian Marine Assets Ltd (CMAL), which is a Scottish Government quango.

Mr Wilson believes the fleet is struggling to cope.

He said: "Making and mending on a daily basis repeatedly puts the ball back in CalMac's court - though they now have no involvement in procurement or design of vessels, or even capacity.

"Maybe, for example, CMAL should be scrapped and an integrated approach restored.

"This is so important for all island communities and every business dependent on reliable communications. We need an authoritative look at all these issues, outside the political arena, in order to find a way forward."

CalMac said it continues to seek "new flexible and effective approaches to address the ongoing challenges of operating an ageing fleet with an increasing number of sailings".

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "Scottish Ministers have invested over £1.4bn in our ferry services and infrastructure since 2007.

"The investment has included new routes, new vessels, upgraded harbour infrastructure, as well as the roll-out of significantly reduced fares through the Road Equivalent Tariff scheme.

"Last year we announced a £3.5m Resilience Fund to reduce the risk of vessels on the Clyde and Hebrides ferry services experiencing mechanical failure."

It comes amid a long-running dispute over the spiralling costs of building two new CalMac ferries at Ferguson shipyard.

The Scottish Government is understood to be drawing up plans to nationalise the Clyde shipyard.