An attempt will be made at Westminster tomorrow to devolve time to Scotland, allowing it to have its own time zone separate from that in England and Wales.

Tory MP Tim Yeo last night said he had a 50-50 chance of getting his Energy Saving (Daylight) Bill through its key Second Reading in the House of Commons given what he claimed was the level of cross-party support for his measure.

His plan is for a three-year experiment in which summer time would be British Summer Time plus one hour and winter time would be Greenwich Mean Time plus one hour.

An identical plan was suggested last year by council leaders in England.

Crucially, however, Mr Yeo's bill allows for a separate vote at Holyrood so that MSPs could decide on whether Scotland should stick to how England sets its clocks or introduce its own distinctive time zone.

"It would be practical," declared the former Conservative Environment Minister who represents South Suffolk. "There are other countries with different time zones, America is one.

"People are used to crossing time zones. I don't think it will present any particular difficulties here."

Previous attempts have failed in light of opposition from Scottish MPs, who have argued that simply putting the clocks forward would lead to darker mornings in Scotland and thereby put at greater risk the lives of children going to school.

One Scottish MP dismissed the proposal as "crazy" and that the idea of Holyrood setting its own time zone would lead to unnecessary confusion. He pledged to oppose it.