THE investigation into the fishing tragedy which claimed the lives of a Leigh father and his two sons is being taken to Westminster on Thursday.

Questions are being raised in Parliament about the findings of a report into last July's Scottish sea loch tragedy.

Leigh MP Andy Burnham is supporting survivors Brian Ridley and Harry Haughton who have challenged the Marine Accident Investigation Branch report into the Loch Ryan boat tragedy which claimed the lives of Shaun Ridley, 37, and his sons Steven, 15, and Michael, 13, of Abbey Lane, Leigh.

Today (Thursday) Mr Burnham was due to ask Transport Minister David Jamieson to listen to the survivors' story first hand. And he arranged for Mr Ridley, who lost his son and two grandsons, and his close friend Mr Haughton to put their points to the Minister.

They claim their fishing boat sank after being swamped by a wave caused by a ferry and believe the victims' chances of survival were hindered by search delays.

Mr Burnham said: "I have studied the MAIB report carefully and discussed it at length with both the family and survivors. I have had to ask myself the difficult question: is this report, though hard to swallow, a fair and accurate record of the events on that terrible day?

"I can only conclude that it is flawed in many respects. In my view, its conclusions are neither fair nor balanced. Serious shortcomings identified are glossed over while many other questions are left unanswered.

"I will be using this special debate in Parliament on this report to speak up for the family and survivors and lay out in detail their strongly-held views of what happened on that day. I want to place their side of the story on the official record and raise serious issues that we believe must be further investigated.

"I know this will be another difficult day for everyone. But I also know that we cannot leave the report as it stands unchallenged. I will be asking the Minister to give careful consideration to the points we raise and will call on the Scottish authorities to initiate a fatal accident inquiry."