One of Scotland's three Harris Tweed mills has been put up for sale in a bid to save 60 jobs.

Carloway Mill chairman Derek Reid said the business needs between £200,000 and £250,000 to stay afloat.

But Highlands and Islands Enterprise turned down an appeal for a bailout and the business is now being sold.

Its owners said operating costs have risen by more than 30% in recent years, while the price of tweed has fallen by 10%.

Mr Reid said: “We have been turned down by Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the Scottish Government.

"I am not going to put the business into administration. Instead I am simply putting it up for sale. I feel I have to do this to give the employees an opportunity for their jobs."

Mr Reid said the firm has a full order book until the end of April and wholesale customers are expected to keep the mill busy in the near future.

A Scottish Government spokesman said it was “disappointed to learn of the difficulties” faced by the mill.

He said: “This will be an anxious time for employees and their families. Highlands and Islands Enterprise are in touch with the company to explore all possible options for support and to find a sustainable future for the business."

Major employer

Carloway is the smallest of three mills producing Harris Tweed in an industry which employs around 380 people in the Western Isles.

At its height in in the mid-1960s, around 1200 weavers worked to produce seven million metres of cloth every year.

Sales fell into decline in the 1980s, partly due to cheaply mass-produced imitation fabrics, and the industry came dangerously close to disaster.

Harris Tweed has enjoyed a revival in recent years as a luxury fashion brand and is the only fabric in the world protected by its own act of parliament, which means it can only be produced in the Hebrides.