THE final phase of improvement works to Eshiels Community Recycling Centre near Peebles will take place this month.

The facility is required to be closed for two weeks from Monday, March 9 to allow the works to take place, which have been shaped by feedback from members of the public.

A series of upgrades have been made by Scottish Borders Council to minimise the length of time the recycling centre needs to close for the transfer of waste from the facility, with two new bays for general and garden waste added last summer.

After last year’s works, users of the site said they found the height of the wall for the new bays difficult to lift waste over, and that the garden waste bay was too far from the parking area.

The second phase of improvements will see two new bays created, with the closest to the parking area being dedicated to garden waste. In response to user comments, the design of the new garden waste bay will remove the need for lifting waste over a wall.

SBC’s executive member for environmental services, Councillor David Paterson, said: “We have taken on board comments from members of the public about Eshiels Community Recycling Centre and hopefully these improvements will mean a significantly better facility which benefits users in the long term.

“We will be working hard to keep the disruption to a minimum and would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused.” During the closure, the alternative community recycling centres closest to Eshiels are at - Easter Langlee near Galashiels (opening hours: 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday; 9am to 4pm Saturday and Sunday); Selkirk (opening hours: 10am to 6pm Monday to Friday; 11am to 6pm Saturday and Sunday).

For more information on SBC’s community recycling centres, visit www.scotborders.gov.uk/recyclingcentres.