The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is calling on Westminster to set up an inquiry over the botched Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme.

Leader of the party, Mike Nesbitt, said the Secretary of State "must intervene" as more daily revelations in relation to the scheme are coming to light.

Mr Nesbitt said: "The First and deputy First Ministers have exited the stage. Devolution has collapsed. The role of and extent of involvement of DUP Special Advisers is now under scrutiny as never before. We are in the midst of the greatest financial scandal in the history of the State. And an election is six weeks away.

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"The scale of the financial exposure which RHI has brought is so great that the UK Government simply cannot sit back and allow matters to drift.

"It is now essential that the Secretary of State seizes the initiative and steps up to the mark. An Inquiry is needed now and a preliminary report must be made public before the people of Northern Ireland go to the polls. Only by this course of action can people make their choice based on the facts of this sorry tale, and elect politicians and parties who can begin to repair public confidence in the integrity of the institutions and those who run them."

(CD/LM)