A huge tanker carrying the first shipment of fracked US shale gas in Scotland has docked in Grangemouth.

The Ineos Insight, which is carrying 27,500 cubic metres of ethane gas from American shale fields, arrived at Ineos' refinery on Wednesday afternoon.

The arrival of the vessel, which had travelled down the Firth of Forth on Tuesday, had been hampered by high winds and was forced to moved to deeper waters.

The 'dragon ship' is the largest ethane gas carrier ever built, weighing 20,000 tonnes and measuring the length of two football pitches.

Chemical giant Ineos say the shale gas will replace dwindling North Sea supplies and secure essential raw material for Grangemouth, supporting around 10,000 jobs.

It is the first time such a large quantity of ethane has been shipped, and the firm anticipates that it will move 40,000 barrels of shale gas every day for the next 15 years.

Jim Ratcliffe, chairman and founder of INEOS, said: "I am pleased to say the INEOS Insight has now docked.

"This is a game changer for British manufacturing. Its arrival guarantees the security of thousands of jobs in Scotland and could spark a shale gas revolution."

A moratorium is currently in place preventing energy companies from fracking in Scotland but Green groups have warned that the shale shipments from the US would be used by Ineos to renew calls to have the ban lifted.

The Scottish Greens climate and energy spokesman Mark Ruskell said: "If we want to guarantee a future for Grangemouth we should be investing in its conversion to synthetic fuels from renewable resources

"Greens have stood with communities from the outset, and proposed Parliament's first ban on fracking.

"We will continue to keep up the pressure and show that Ineos' bullish behaviour is utterly misplaced."

Debate over the future of fracking in the UK surfaced again on Monday as the UK Labour Party followed Scottish Labour in backing a ban on fracking for indigenous shale resources.