STV player: Live stream of Scottish Independence debate fails, meaning viewers outside Scotland could not watch

People were quick to post angry tweets about the situation

First Minister Alex Salmond will face off against Alistair Darling, the leader of the Better Together campaign, in a live televised showdown (Getty) (Getty)

Viewers attempting to tune in to the Scottish Independence debate on Tuesday evening complained that the only live stream available outside the nation failed.

The debate between Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond and former Chancellor and Better Together campaign chair Alistair Darling commenced at 8pm. Only Scottish viewers could watch the two-hour-long debate live on TV, while audiences elsewhere were told to tune in via an STV live stream on their website.

But those attempting to watch instead saw a message reading: "Segment loading security violation. Video playback not possible".

STV said in a statement: "We are receiving an unprecedented demand for the live stream of the debate. We have made each section of the programme available for immediate catch up on our referendum site, scotlanddecides.com."

Disgruntled viewers were quick to tweet their frustration.

BBC presenter Andrew Neill tweeted: “The one night rest of UK WANTS to watch STV AND their systems freeze. Useless.”

Others asked why the programme was not being broadcast in the rest of the UK.

“Can't get STV's live stream of scottish independence debate to work. Appalling that it's not being broadcast in England,” wrote user @HannahWeb.

Those who cannot watch the live debate will miss the two politicians being quizzed by the STV’s political editor Bernard Ponsonby, followed by a section in which the two men will be able to cross-examine one another.

The pair will finally be asked questions from a 350-voter- strong audience, selected to best reflect a balance of political leanings, before delivering their closing statements.