An unseen campaign video which the pro-union campaign in the Scottish independence referendum thought was too negative to broadcast can finally be revealed.

The Better Together advert, which was reported to have cost £50,000 to produce, was abandoned by campaign chiefs who thought it would play into the repeated accusations of "scaremongering" that were levelled against them throughout the 2014 referendum.

BuzzFeed News can reveal the rejected advert, titled "The Island", shows a frightened young girl watching some sentient tools – including pliers, a blowtorch, and a chainsaw – as they sever Great Britain in half, leaving the child to look over a sheer cliff face as Scotland floats off into the Atlantic Ocean.

The advert was rejected after Maggie Darling, the wife of Better Together leader and former chancellor Alistair Darling, said the tone of it reminded her of a horror film and suggested it should be called "nightmare on Sauchiehall Street".