A war of words has erupted between the leaders of neighbouring council's over the location of Scotland's national film studio.

The leader of North Lanarkshire Council, James McCabe, has reacted angrily to criticism of the plan from Gordon Matheson, leader of Glasgow City Council.

Gordon Matheson, backed up by Glasgow Chamber of Commerce chief Stuart Patrick and Film City Glasgow director Tiernan Kelly, have written to Fiona Hyslop, the culture secretary, accusing her of a "flawed decision compounded by discourtesy".

The trio said Glasgow's infrastructure for film and television production as well as its track record best place it for any studio.

The Herald recently revealed Glasgow's bid, led by Film City, had been formally rejected by Scottish Enterprise to deliver a facility for the country.

Industry and local authority sources say studios in Cumbernauld close to or those used by the Outlander TV series have been selected.

Scottish Enterprise has confirmed it was still in negotiations with a private backer for the studio without revealing the exact location or the level of public finance to be committed.

In a letter today, Councillor McCabe, who is also in the Labour Party, says: "While the decision is yet to be taken, Cumbernauld is an ideal location for such a studio.

"Councillor Matheson seems to suggest that only Glasgow has the talented and skilled workforce to make such an enterprise work, and that location is all-important.

"North Lanarkshire does, of course, have an extremely talented and skilled workforce. I would imagine its location is much more suited to a national studio given that it is close to both Glasgow and Edinburgh and their airports, and that we have none of the travel difficulties associated with getting around a city."

He adds: "Cumbernauld is host to the hugely successful Outlander series, filmed for Sony Television. So we have the perfect blend of location, skills, experience and infrastructure to support a major film studio. I hope that is recognised in due course when an announcement is made.

"If Cumbernauld is indeed successful, I would expect Glasgow would derive some spin-off benefits from having such a major initiative hosted just 15 miles away."

Tom Johnston, an SNP councillor in Cumbernauld, also writes: "The Labour leader of Glasgow City Council, Gordon Matheson, regularly states that Glasgow has more in common with English cities such as Liverpool and Newcastle than it has with the rest of Scotland.

"He clearly views the people of Cumbernauld 'some 15 miles away' as outsiders.

"Cumbernauld, one of Scotland's largest towns, is ideally placed for a film studio.

"On the M80, it is central to Glasgow, Edinburgh and Stirling and has, in addition, Cumbernauld Airport.

"The parochial Councillor Gordon Matheson, Labour leader of Glasgow City Council, should note that we are just 20 minutes from Glasgow by bus."