PEEBLES Resilient Community needs to expand to cover the whole of Peebles and are seeking out volunteers to help.

There will be two drop in open days on which those keen to become volunteers can come along and find out more.

The first will be on Saturday, April 16, in the Burgh Hall 10am to 1.30pm

Representatives of the emergency services and key partner agencies, many of whom were involved in the flood response of December 30 last year, will be there.

John Swanson, from the group, said: "Whilst flooding is uppermost in our minds, it is not the only major event that has hit Peebles in the past, and we need to prepare for the possibility of future events.

"A resilient community, will be able to respond to many events from very minor to very serious.

"Scottish Borders Council provides support to a resilient community including, training, equipment, equipment stores, formulating the town’s emergency plan and arranging exercises.

"We need volunteers with a wide skill base, including incident management, admin, record keeping, manual labour and catering. Please come along and see what you can give to your community."

Volunteers can sign up during the drop in event , online on the Scottish Borders Council website - under Resilient Communities - or at the workshop which will be held on Tuesday, April 19.

The workshop runs from 6pm in MacFarlane Hall, and together with the Scottish Borders Emergency Planning team and key partner organisations, Peebles Resilient Community will discuss the way forward in supporting the community of Peebles in the face of extreme weather.