North Ayrshire’s Tories have declined to make any further comment on their £100,000 Irvine Unionist Club donation.

A motion raised by SNP councillors in December requested the Chief Executive write to the group leader requesting a statement explaining the unregistered donation.

This was after the Electoral Commission fined the trust £400 last year for “failure to provide notification of gifts to a political party exceeding £25,000”.

With most Labour councillors abstaining, except Cllr Jimmy Miller who voted with the Conservatives, the motion for a statement to be made passed with 10 in favour and eight against.

However at last week's Full Council Meeting, Chief Executive Craig Hatton told members that the Conservative Group leader told him he had nothing futher to add.

SNP Cllr Davina McTiernan said: “This is typical arrogance from the Tories. People across Scotland, and particularly here in North Ayrshire, want to know where this money came from, but the local Tories are avoiding the question by keeping their heads down and refusing to provide answers.”

“If they won’t say where they got it from, and they still have the money sitting in their bank account, why don’t they donate it to good causes in North Ayrshire?”

Cllr Tom Marshall told the Times: "We have nothing to add to our previous statement."

At the previous council meeting, Irvine West Tory Cllr Scott Gallacher said he understood the money came from a trust after the sale of property in Irvine high street - highlighting the Unionist Club building now occupied by Oor Wulls second hand furniture shop.

He added: “I don’t know what the SNP are looking for here – like Pablo Escobar’s going to be funding us.”