A gin distiller's bid to give free hand sanitiser to NHS frontline staff during the coronavirus pandemic has been halted by council bureaucrats.

HMRC has relaxed licensing rules so drinks firms can produce sanitiser for use in hospitals and other critical facilities.

But Moray Council Trading Standards has allegedly stopped a gin company in Speyside from rushing out its vital, alcohol-based cleanser - and is believed to have been the first council in Scotland to do so.

"It's bureaucracy gone mad," said the gin company's owner, who did not want us to release her name or identify her company.

She added: "My hands have been tied up in red tape.

"Our first batch was due to go out free and thereafter we'd only charge whatever the ingredients cost us.

"There's no profit being made.'

HMRC's relaxation of the licensing rules allows distillers to make sanitiser based on a recipe set out by the World Health Organisation.

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Companies across Scotland and the UK are now hard at work producing the anti-bacterial gel, which is running in short supply due to huge demand.

The Speyside gin firm made a large amount of sanitiser but was shocked when Trading Standards asked to analyse a sample and check the label - even examining what font was used.

"This is not a pretty label designed to look good on the shelf," the owner continued.

"It's not a consumer product."

This interference has stopped the distiller from shipping the cleansing gel and it cannot make any more at this stage, because it does not know whether it will be a wasted effort.

In the worst-case scenario, council apparatchiks could order the company to apply for an EU license which would take up to 270 days to arrive.

"It's farcical," the owner continued.

"There has been an industry effort across Scotland and I believe I'm the only one investigated by Trading Standards.

"There is a network of distillers across Scotland working to address the sanitiser shortfall in their area and I know for a fact that every single one of us is not doing this to make money.

"It is a stopgap until the normal supply chain comes back in operation - which could be four to six weeks away.

"In the meantime, Moray Council is like: 'You're not conforming to regulations.'

"The NHS desperately needs this product."

The final straw came when council officials spoke to the distiller as if she was planning a business.

"I was told: 'Good luck with your venture.'

"It beggars belief that this is their attitude towards this."

Moray Council was unable to comment.