Scotland should have its own entry in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Under plans by the SNP each of the nations which make up the United Kingdom would enter Eurovision on rotation.

That would mean that every four years England, Northern Ireland and Wales would take a back seat and allow Scotland to participate.

The proposal has been put forward by Alyn Smith MEP who wants to “reinvigorate a pretty tired BBC formula”.

There has been a long running campaign for Scotland to take to the Eurovision stage. A petition calling for Scotland to have its own entry was lodged at Holyrood by fans before the 2009 contest.

The group ‘Scotland in Eurovision’ called on the Scottish Government to “make appropriate representations to take forward calls for Scotland to have its own entry in the Eurovision Song Contest”.

Smith backed the bid but it fell by the wayside in the same year amid concerns about the cost of organising a Eurovision event in Scotland.

Smith said: “It can be very expensive to host. I met with broadcasters in Scotland six years ago and they said it was intriguing but just too costly. After that, it just didn’t really go anywhere.”

However, he is hopeful that the rotation system would have a better chance of getting financial backing.

Smith said: “The Eurovision Song Contest is a great bit of fun, and where often the UK is a bit snide about it many of our European neighbours use it as a shop window to showcase their countries and their talent.

“Scotland is not presently an independent state so we can't demand our own entry, but the Eurovision authorities, the European Broadcasting Union, have confirmed to me there would be nothing stopping a [compromise] whereby once every four years each of the home nations could represent the UK.

“I think that would reinvigorate a pretty tired BBC formula and be a bit of fun too, as well as give Scotland a regular shot of a process that currently doesn't deliver much for us.”

Eurovision’s communications manager, Paul Jordan, said: “The BBC in its capacity as public service broadcaster currently has the rights to the Eurovision Song Contest.

“The BBC is a member of the European Broadcasting Union, along with several other broadcasters in the UK.

“Membership is listed as UK rather than specifying constituent countries such as Scotland.

“Further questions should be addressed to the BBC’s Head of Press for the Eurovision Song Contest, Chris McCluskey.”

The Sunday Herald contacted McCluskey but he did not respond to a request for comment.