"I mean it's not exactly er, um..."

Rocket sites 'could make profit'

A rocket test range on the Western Isles could be turned around to make a profit, the chairman of community landowner Storas Uibhist has argued.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) contractor QinetiQ is to cut 125 jobs across sites linked to the range.

Ahead of a meeting with Defence Minister Quentin Davies, Angus MacMillan said consideration should be given to expanding the range.

Mr Macmillan told The JT: "I can't see any great difficulty in thinking up alternative, profitable uses for the ranges. Producing an innovative strategy doesn't require the application of a specialised skill set; one, say, associated with a narrow field of technological or scientific endeavour. I can't think of an analogy that applies to the current case of testing rockets but I'm sure it will occur to me later."