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STORY: Local politicians on Britain's Orkney Islands say they are considering what they're calling "alternative forms of governance" -- including potentially leaving the UK and becoming part of Norway instead.

That's according to its council leader.

Orkney is an archipelago about ten miles off the north of Scotland made up of about 70 islands and with a population of 22,000 people.

So why would they consider such a drastic measure? The council leader, James Stockan, says the islands have been financially neglected by the Scottish and British governments for years.

"We don't seem to be getting the same amount of resources even as the other islands, we don't get the same support and mechanisms for our ferries and we have a particular challenge now because our ferries need replaced and nobody is coming to help us to find the capital to do that."

Orkney does have historic Nordic connections.

The islands were part of Norway for about 500 years until 1472. Stockan says locals, called Orcadians, regularly ask him for a return to that country given the shared cultural affinity.

"Our culture, the way we operate, as a very flat society, as a very inclusive society, very much reflects what I find in the Nordic countries and I would say that that really puts us in a very different place

Stockan has proposed a motion for the council to look at other governance models that, quote, "provide greater fiscal security and economic opportunity."

Councillors will decide whether to back it or not on Tuesday.

Among the options as well as rejoining Norway are other British arrangements, like becoming a crown dependency, which is the system of government in the Channel Islands.

Or a model like the Faroe Islands, a self-governing part of Denmark.

A spokesperson for Norway's foreign ministry made no comment on whether the Orkney or UK authorities had been in contact on this issue, adding that it had no view on the proposed motion.