ISLANDS minister Paul Wheelhouse has said he is not aware of any island council requesting additional powers, as Shetland said it was looking at ways to be independent of Scotland.

The islands council has agreed to explore options for achieving “financial and political self-determination” as public funding has been cut under the SNP government at Holyrood.

Island councillors voted 18 to two in support for the motion during a meeting of the full council.

It is the latest, most significant development over disquiet among islands over the direction of the nation.

It comes just a month after the Scottish Government announced the Outer Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland will benefit from investment of up to £50m by the Scottish Government as part of an Islands Growth Deal.

Last year ministers released its National Islands Plan which aimed to tackle depopulation, a lack of housing and the need for improvements to transport and health services, Scotland has around 60% of the EU's oil reserves and the second-largest volume of proven natural gas reserves, most of it located around Shetland.

Three years ago Orkney looked into whether it can loosen ties with Scotland and the UK or become independent in the wake of Brexit it has emerged.

READ MORE: Shetland looks at independence from Scotland

The majority of the elected representatives of the island's only local authority forced an investigation into whether greater autonomy or self-determination would benefit the group of 70 islands at a time of constitutional uncertainty within the UK and in Europe.

The examination was made in the context of what it is described as future national or international constitutional changes.

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It now appears that residents and councillors hope to adopt a similar path taken by the Faroe Islands, which have autonomous status within the Kingdom of Denmark.

But islands minister Paul Wheelhouse said that neither Shetland or any other island council submitted any requests for additional powers.

He said: “It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including on ferry services, on the basis of local needs and priorities.”

He added: “In order to protect and provide support to our island communities, we have had to reprioritise our efforts to support key areas such as access to lifeline services and maintaining crucial supply chains, while managing the impact the virus has had on the islands economy and preventing transmission.”

In the EU referendum, Orkney was the first Scottish area to declare and with a turnout of 68.4 percent Remain won with 63 percent to Leave’s 37 percent.

Now Shetland has decided to go down a similar route.

The motion, signed by council leader Steven Coutts and convener Malcolm Bell said: “We believe that Shetland has the wherewithal to have a positive future.

“However, in recent times we have seen more and more decision making being centralised and public funding being consistently reduced.

“We are concerned that this ongoing situation is seriously threatening the prosperity, and even basic sustainability, of Shetland as a community.

“In order to look at alternatives to ensure Shetland can reach and maintain its full potential, we, the undersigned, move that: The Shetland Islands Council formally begins exploring options for achieving financial and political self-determination.”

As the First Minister revealed a second referendum would be "highly likely" following Britain's Brexit decision islanders have become discontent, with the political movement Wir Shetland gathering momentum.

Councillor Duncan Anderson added: “Carrying on with the status quo is not an option,”

The archipelago has a population of just over 20,000 and contains the Sullom Voe oil and gas terminal, with a number of oil fields off its coastline.

The Shetlands were the only part of Britain, along with the Western Isles of Scotland, that voted against EEC membership in a 1975 referendum.

In the final tense days of the 2014 independence referendum, the local MP Alistair Carmichael, who was minister for Scotland at the time, said the islands could try to remain part of Britain if the rest of Scotland left.

In the end, 55% of Scots voted to stay in Britain. The unionist vote in the Shetlands was 63.7% - one of the highest levels in Scotland.

Five years ago, a group of campaigners from Orkney, Shetland, and the Western Isles failed in a bid to Scottish Parliament for a referendum that could grant them independence from Scotland on the grounds that they were all historically part of Norway.

Before the Scottish Independence referendum a petition collected some 1,177 in support of their proposal. But it was rejected by MSPs and the petition was closed.