PEEBLES has produced its 11th talking book for blind and partially sighted readers, thanks to a donation from a local building society.

As previously reported, in 2017 the town became the first in the UK to raise funds as a community for the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) service.

And now, thanks to Nationwide's £1,500 donation, ‘The Invincibles: The Beast of Bramble Woods’ by Caryl Hart will be professionally narrated and recorded.

Angela Preston, fundraising manager for RNIB Scotland said: "This book is a particularly good choice as it is part of this year’s Summer Reading Challenge [a national reading drive for children.

“The efforts of Peebles to raise money for ‘talking books’ has been incredible. Peebles was the first town in the UK to come together in a community drive to add more titles to RNIB’s library, and to fund 11 is simply marvellous – and far more than any other community to date. It makes me very proud to be a resident of the town, myself."

The RNIB has a library of more than 30,000 stories for adults and children – with each one costing up to £2,500 to professionally narrate.

Graeme Stickings, manager of the Nationwide branch in the Eastgate added: "We're delighted to be able to support RNIB to produce ‘talking books’.

"The joy of a good book is a gift that should be available to all.

"Nationwide Building Society is a mutual, which means we're owned by and run for the benefit of our members.

"We want to do our best for our members – and a big part of that is supporting the communities in which they live and work."