FORTH Ports has revealed it is in detailed talks with a number of potential customers to lease space and distribution facilities within a new (pounds) 2m warehouse at its Grangemouth harbour facility.

The company, which is based in Leith, Edinburgh, has just finished building the warehouse, which provides 100,000 square feet of storage.

Among its potential customers are several undisclosed high street retailers said to be seeking a central facility in Scotland from where they can store and distribute goods.

Construction of new warehousing facilities at Scotland's busiest container port is part of Forth Port's strategy to offer customers a full logistical service and to help simplify distribution networks. It is vying with rival operators to maintain its position as Scotland's key distribution hub.

Alan Murray, port manager at Grangemouth, said: ''At present we have customers shipping goods through Grangemouth and then transporting them 20 to 30 miles by road to storage centres. This new facility will help give them a much more cost-effective alternative.''

The development follows a (pounds) 5m investment announced in September which will see Forth Ports double freight-handling capacity at Grangemouth in a bid to compete with developments in the south-west and far north of Scotland. Giant container ports are planned for both Hunterston in Ayrshire and Flotta in Orkney.

The upgraded Grangemouth is expected to handle 8000 containers a week where volumes have been rising at more than 10% a year for the past few years with shipping lines, importers, and exporters all indicating there is further potential for growth.