13 December 2012 Last updated at 11:52 ET

Councillors fail to block RSPB Scotland funding

RSPB Scotland is restoring peatlands in the far north

Ten councillors have failed in a bid to stop £10,000 of Highland Council funds going to an RSPB Scotland peatland restoration project.

The authority's Caithness and Sutherland Area Committee approved the funding from the Landfill Community Fund last month.

The group of councillors had sought to block the grant.

However, at a meeting of the full council a vote confirmed the decision to award the funding by 40 votes to 27.

The money is to help cover the cost of blocking up open drains in parts of the Flow Country in the far north.

The councillors argued that the drains should block naturally over time.

RSPB Scotland said the ditches dated back to the 1950s and had not blocked up or stopped draining water from peat over the past 60 years.