More than 100 authors have been invited to buy copies of their own works by a Scottish publisher facing the threat of bankruptcy.

Freight Books, the imprint of Freight Design, emailed writers whose titles had been published before the crisis that engulfed the company this spring.

In his message, Davinder Samrai, co-owner of the company, said its future was “extremely uncertain”.

Freight had won a string of awards and was due to publish works by established writers including Irvine Welsh and Janice Galloway, as well as acclaimed new talents such as Kirstin Innes and Laura Powell.

Mr Samrai said it had become clear that matters relating to the publishing business “could be taken out of my hands” during the legal process.

He added: “If you would like to buy stock of your titles, it may be prudent to act sooner rather than later. I appreciate this may cause unease but depending on quantities I may be able to supply at a better discount than the regular author discount.”

Authors will then be able to sell the books themselves.

Freight received £170,000 from Creative Scotland between 2014 and 2017, and it rankles with many writers that this public funding has not helped to pay royalties to its roster of authors.

The crisis is the result of an acrimonious breakdown in a long business relationship between Mr Samrai and Adrian Searle, co-owner of Freight Design.