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The firm behind plans for a new whisky distillery and visitor centre in Inverclyde has launched a fundraising drive to raise £17m for the project.

The move by the Ardgowan Distillery Company comes after it secured planning permission for the project at the Ardgowan Estate near Inverkip.

It has already raised more than £500,000 in seed capital.

Construction is scheduled to start later this year, with plans for the site to be operational in 2019.

The new facility will resurrect the name of the Ardgowan Distillery, which was founded in 1896 and located in Baker Street, Greenock.

Ardgowan Distillery chairman Willie Phillips said: "We are planning to build an outstanding distillery of significant scale to make a lowland single malt that will have a distinctive taste and flavour given its proximity to the sea."

Murdoch McLennan, from Campbell Dallas, which is advising on the fundraising initiative, said: "The Ardgowan Estate, where the distillery will be located, is within easy commuting distance from Glasgow and has tremendous historic connections going back hundreds of years.

"In common with other investments of this type, the distillery is anticipating a mixture of equity, debt funding and public grant support."