THE Scottish Office is likely to come under pressure to turn down or delay an electricity project linking Scotland and Northern Ireland following disclosure yesterday that two tonnes of radioactive waste were dumped in Beaufort's Dyke off the Ayrshire coast in the 1950s.

Both the Scottish National Party and the Scottish Liberal Democrats have called on the Government to hold off implementing any projects likely to disturb the seabed around the trench, a munitions dump since the 1920s.

Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley MP George Foulkes, has campaigned for investigations into the potential dangers harboured in and around Beaufort's Dyke. He said last night: "The presence of another hazard in the Beaufort's Dyke will obviously be a factor for the Scottish Office to take account of when considering any further development in the area."