Flat owners in Glasgow are cashing in on COP26 by charging more than £100,000 for accommodation during the two-week climate conference.

An investigation found 20 properties on the Airbnb website and 30 on Booking.com were being advertised at more than £20,000 for the fortnight.

One two bedroom duplex apartment in Glasgow's Kelvingrove area is said to have been listed at  an eye-watering rate of £8,583 per night.

The property, which has a pool table and two indoor fireplaces, is described "an exclusive COP26 retreat' within walking distance of the Scottish Event Campus, the main delegate centre for the conference.

The average nightly price for a rental on Airbnb during the two-week conference is £600, a three-fold increase on the same dates the following two months.

Another three-bedroom property, near Kelvingrove park was still available today for individual delegates or groups willing to spend £56,424 on a 12-night stay in Glasgow.

The Herald:

Around 25,000 people from 197 countries are expected to attend the event, which will run from October 31 to November 12 and will bring together tens of thousands of negotiators, government representatives, businesses and citizens from around the world in a bid to reach agreement on how tackle the emergency.

The Herald:

Stop Climate Chaos Scotland (SCCS) is one of a number of groups spearheading a call for Glaswegians to offer spare rooms and sofa beds to delegates travelling from poorer communities.

Campaign groups say housing a guest can reduce accommodation emissions by more than 80% and energy usage by more than 70% compared to a hotel stay.

READ MORE: Sturgeon can't do 'bare minimum' on climate change if Heathrow support remains

A homeowner who is trying to rent out her flat in the city's east end for £2,200 a night said: "Pretty much everyone we know is doing it."

Speaking to The Times, which carried out the investigation, Mary Church, head of campaigns at Friends of the Earth Scotland, said the lack of affordable housing meant the conference risked being "the most exclusionary Cop ever" and not the "most inclusive" described by Alok Sharma, the president of COP 26.

The first of two cruise ships that will provide accommodation for people attending the summit arrived in Scotland yesterday.

The Latvian-flagged Romantika has berthed at King George V dock, next to Braehead Shopping Centre in Renfrew.

A second vessel, the MS Silja Europa, will arrive from Estonia in the coming days.
Paavo Nõgene, chief executive of the ship owner Tallink, described the decision to bring a second ship to Scotland as a "last-minute agreement".

A COP26 official said: "As hosts it is of huge importance to the UK there are a wide of fairly-priced accommodation options available.

"We have been working with our hotel provider, MCI, to make sure this is the case."