Salmon farming and seafood company Marine Harvest Scotland has chosen the Altanavaig quarry at Kyleakin on Skye as its preferred site for a new £80 million fish feed plant that would create 55 jobs.

“We are delighted to have found a site which sits at the heart of our operations — one that is already an industrial site but which has not been fully utilised for some time,” said Ben Hadfield, managing director of Marine Harvest Scotland.

“We would like to have the chance to bring it back to life and provide well paid jobs, as well as taking the opportunity to produce our feed in the most sustainable way.”

Marine Harvest Scotland said in January it was looking for a site for its new plant to produce feed for use on its Scottish farms, and for operations in Ireland, Norway and the Faroes.

The company will now start consultations with the local community as part of the planning application process.

It plans to hold public meetings in Kyleakin and Kyle in April.

Construction of the plant would take 12 to 18 months and Marine Harvest believes it could be operating as early as 2018, depending on the planning process.

“We considered a number of different locations before deciding on Kyleakin Quarry,” said Hadfield.

“The site more than meets our criteria which included a central location for our farms, access to an existing jetty or pier, or the potential to build one, good road transport links and the availability of power and water supplies at a reasonable cost.

“This is a great opportunity for Kyleakin and the local economy and we hope to have the chance to discuss our plans with the local community as soon as possible.”

Public exhibitions will be held from 11am until 8pm in Kyleakin Village Hall on Monday April 18 and Kyle Free Church of Scotland Hall on Tuesday April 19.