DANNY Alexander, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, has claimed that the Scottish Government's plan for average speed cameras on the A9 will be ineffective and a waste of money.

The Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey MP said it would do little to improve safety and the money should go into the scheme to dual the route from Perth to Inverness.

But a Transport Scotland spokesman said evidence showed that average speed cameras would help cut the number of accidents, particularly fatal and serious ones.

He added construction work to dual the entire length of the A9 could begin as early as 2015/16.