Energy experts from across Europe have met in Dundee to discuss a plan which could save council tenants up to 20% on their fuel bills.

Labour MSP Jenny Marra organised the energy summit which was held on Thursday as part of her attempt to convince the city council to copy collective bargaining schemes already successfully used to lower energy costs in Holland and Belgium.

Experts from the two countries travelled to the city for the meeting.

Representatives of energy watchdog OFGEM and Consumer Focus Scotland as well as housing associations were also at the meeting.

Ms Marra said: ''The Dundee Energy Summit is our first and important step in trying to set up the UK's first community collective buying scheme that will save people 20% on their fuel bills. Labour is committed to this ambition for Dundee. I hope the other parties will be, too.

Ms Marra added that Dundee is the ''ideal place'' for the ambitious new scheme.

She said: ''We were the first city in Europe to have a district heating scheme, in the Logie estate, and, as Scotland's sunniest city and an with ambition for renewables, it makes sense that Dundee people should be the first to feel the benefits of innovation in energy supply and buying.''

In a recent meeting with the Belgian group, Ms Marra found that they have managed to save people in the scheme nearly 30% on their annual fuel bills.

Dundee housing convener Jimmy Black said he would like to see the scheme working in Dundee.

He said: "I like to think it would work here and I'm certainly prepared to give it a shot. We have two aims. We want to tackle fuel poverty. We do that in a number of ways, insultaing houses and more efficient heating systems, but you still have to pay for energy at the end of the day and if we can get a cheaper price, great we will do that. However, there's a lot of complicated stuff being discussed around the table. It hasn't been done in the UK so we have to find out what the problems are and try to solve them."