A FLAMINGO Land boss has refused to walk back or apologise for commentsfrom a colleague, who called members of local boat clubs "scruffy".

The Lennox Herald reported last week that chief executive Gordon Gibb made the disparaging remark in an email sent to MSP Jackie Baillie in 2017.

Ms Baillie exposed the remark at a public meeting of nearly 300 opponents to the plans held last month.

Speaking to the Reporter, Andy Miller, the director of sales at Flamingo Land, declined to apologise to anyone who was offended by the comments.

He said: "What Gordon said was based on recent [at the time] media reports which said that some of the boats in the River Leven were 'manky' and should be removed.

"He wasn't saying anything about any one boat club in particular, and we've had some really good interactions with a number of them, he was simply saying what had already been in the local press at that point."

In response, Jackie Baillie said: "Mr Gibb’s comments about the boat clubs on the River Leven were dismissive of the role that the clubs play in the local community. Simply blaming the comments on media reports is shirking responsibility for what he said.

"The Chief Executive of a company trying to integrate its development into the community should have done his homework.

"Indeed their partner in the development, Scottish Enterprise, would have told them how wrong Mr Gibb was if he had bothered to ask. The community is still waiting to hear his apology."