The Scottish Government today stepped up calls for action by Westminster as the amount of Scottish council cash trapped in collapsed Icelandic banks approached the £50 million mark.

Two more public bodies today joined the list of Scottish councils affected by the Icelandic financial meltdown.

Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Board said it had £3 million on deposit with Heritable Bank, the London-based subsidiary of Landsbanki - £1 million due for repayment on November 17 and £2 million on March 10 next year.

East Renfrewshire Council confirmed it had £1 million in Heritable, due to mature in early December.

Both bodies said they hoped to recover the cash.

They join a list of seven Scots councils with money in troubled Icelandic financial institutions including Landsbanki, Heritable and Glitnir.

North Ayrshire has the biggest investment, with £5 million in Landsbanki and £10 million with Glitnir Bank.

Other affected Scottish councils include South Lanarkshire with £5 million invested with Landsbanki and a further £2.5 million with Heritable.

In England, councils have been told by the Government that their investments in Icelandic institutions are not being guaranteed as local authorities are in a different position from individual savers.

But Mr Swinney said today that local authority depositors should be given the same "assurance" that had been provided to retail depositors across the UK.

Local government finance is devolved while banking regulation is not.

And Mr Swinney insisted: "This has got nothing to do with local authority funding - and everything to do with regulation of financial services."

Senior figures in Scottish councils decided to seek a joint meeting with the Westminster and Scottish governments, and Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy later agreed to this.

Mr Murphy said: "I have agreed with Cosla to convene a meeting at the Scotland Office in Edinburgh on Wednesday morning to which the Scottish Government will of course be invited."

Cosla president Pat Watters said: "We are writing today to Alistair Darling requesting equal involvement to our English colleagues.

"We will also be seeking reassurance that the treatment of Scottish local government will be no different to that in the rest of the UK."

Mr Swinney today contacted all affected Scottish councils.

He said later: "As financial regulation is a reserved matter, I want reassurance from the UK Government that all deposits by local authorities in all banks, based both in the UK and elsewhere, are afforded the same protection as the safeguards the UK Government put in place in relation to certain Icelandic banks and accounts earlier this week."

Mr Swinney pledged: "I will take forward discussions with affected Scottish local authorities directly with the Treasury to ensure that council resources and council taxpayers' interests are protected at this time of uncertainty."

The body representing the voluntary sector in Scotland is seeking a meeting with Scots Secretary Jim Murphy on the wider impact of the credit crunch.

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations said: "We are currently investigating how many of our members have been affected.

"However there is a wider worry about the effects of the credit crunch on the whole of the voluntary sector in Scotland.

"The majority of our members survive on less than £25,000 a year and they face growing uncertainty in these turbulent economic times."

David Parker, leader of Scottish Borders Council, which has £5 million with Landsbanki and £5 million in Heritable, told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland he was optimistic that the council would eventually get the cash back.

"But in the worst-case scenario, certainly the Treasury needs to look at a similar package for local authorities and other organisations who are affected by this particular crisis, just as they have done for individual savers," he said.