A SOLICITOR has said he felt like a "secret millionaire" after being instructed to hand out a £1 million bequest to various groups and organisations.

The money was left by a woman from Campbeltown and has been split up into donations made by MacTaggart Solicitors.

Some £600,000 has been given away so far, with the Kintyre Dialysis campaign and Children's Hospice Association Scotland among the beneficiaries.

Christian Kane, of the firm, said: "It was an unusual instruction and we tried to do it quietly and methodically, but lately it has become the town's worst-kept secret.

"When we started disbursing the money, we looked primarily at local organisations involving children and also at disadvantage groups who were either too small or too focused on a particular purpose to obtain funding elsewhere.

"At times I have felt like a secret millionaire, and it has been wonderful to see the difference the money has made to many of the groups or organisations involved."