Ayrshire has missed out in the race to host the UK's first nuclear fusion plant - ending hopes of thousands of jobs being brought to the region.
A site on the Ardeer peninsula was on a shortlist of five UK locations for the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) plant.
But the UK government has picked the West Burton A plant in Nottinghamshire, dashing dreams of a huge economic boost to North Ayrshire and Scotland as a whole.
STEP, which will provide unlimited clean energy, was expected to directly bring more than 4,500 jobs to Ardeer and hundreds of millions of pounds of investment.
North Ayrshire's bid was led by the Fusion Forward (Ardeer) consortium, which represents NPL Group and owns the land, North Ayrshire Council and the University of Glasgow.
North Ayrshire Council leader Marie Burns insisted there was still much to be positive about despite the disappointing news.
She said: “We have shown what is possible for a unique location like Ardeer and we know that it remains a prime site ready for the right development.
“We will continue to pursue innovation and investment opportunities throughout North Ayrshire, and this process has demonstrated that our area has much to offer as a desirable location for large-scale investment.
“The experience we have gained working with partners on this project puts us in a strong position for commercial development and very attractive to prospective investors and employers.
“While the STEP plant would have brought significant investment, jobs and training opportunities to North Ayrshire and the west of Scotland, we will continue to explore different possibilities and opportunities for our area.
“It’s important that we don’t lose momentum and it’s clear there is an appetite from national agencies such as Scottish Enterprise, Skills Development Scotland, the Scottish Council for Development and Industry among others, to usher in a new era of innovation in our area.
“We will do everything we can to ensure that North Ayrshire will benefit from STEP and the emerging UK fusion energy industry, as part of the large-scale supply chains and advanced manufacturing in not only this but other burgeoning areas such as aerospace and offshore renewables.
“This is most definitely not the end of the road but the start of a new journey.”
Professor Declan Diver, of the University of Glasgow’s School of Physics and Astronomy and the convenor of the Fusion Forward (Ardeer) consortium said: “Over the course of the last 18 months, we’ve done a great deal of work to win the backing of the business, education and skills sectors across Scotland.
"In doing so, we’ve created a framework for collaboration that could easily be used to support future bids to bring large-scale infrastructure and investment projects to Ardeer.
“There’s also the possibility that STEP-related opportunities could come to the region between now and 2040, when the plant is expected to start generating power."
Arran Cameron, development director at NPL Group, added: “Despite this disheartening news that this project won’t be the one for Ardeer, we are positive that the relationships forged in the bid process with the University of Glasgow and North Ayrshire Council together with the now enhanced links to Scottish Enterprise and Skills Development Scotland will continue to promote and attract positive economic development to Scotland’s largest brownfield industrial site.”
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