A SMALL company has been swamped with applications from all over the world for a new .Scot internet domain name - even though it will not go live until the summer.

The Glasgow-based not-for-profit outfit Dot Scot Registry (DSR) paid over £300,000 for the licence for the .Scot suffix.

Demand has been so overwhelming that the firm predicts to be in profit within the first year and has pledged to give all surplus money to new small businesses.

DSR's director, Gavin McCutcheon, said: "There's been a huge amount of interest from ex-pats, which is not surprising when there are about 100 million people claiming some degree of Scottish ancestry."