Historic Scotland and Argyll and Bute Council are to form a partnership in order to look at new ways to capitalise on the island's heritage and to attract more tourists to the area.

The heritage agency and local authority are looking at how the area's historic buildings can be repaired as part of a wider regeneration of Rothesay, which would both reflect the town's past and build on the work being done by the Argyll and Bute Council's CHORD (Campbeltown, Helensburgh, Oban, Rothesay and Dunoon) regeneration programme.

Culture Minister Fiona Hyslop said: "Historic Scotland and Argyll and Bute Council are looking at developing how they cooperate to prioritise areas where they can work together.

"Part of this will be investigating whether a Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme can be built up to revitalise some of the key historic buildings.

"We will be looking at how sites like Rothesay Castle, which is in the care of Scottish ministers, can better support the local community, businesses and other tourist attractions in the area."