AN eloping couple from the Borders hope their recent marriage will help save the lives of local pets.

Firefighter Euan Hastie and his bride-to-be Lindsey Wilson ran away to Dunblane last winter to tie the knot.

And on their return to Peebles they decided to have a fundraising party instead of a reception.

Euan, who is stationed at Sighthill as well as acting as a retained firefighter in Peebles, suggested the Smokey Paws charity should benefit.

The organisation provides oxygen kits to help resuscitate pets suffering from smoke inhalation during house fires.

Despite Lindsey and Euan's initial fundraiser being cancelled due to the Beast from the East storms, the rescheduled party in April raised enough funds to buy six specialist kits.

And on Thursday evening the oxygen units were handed over to representatives from Peebles, Galashiels, Selkirk and Hawick fire stations.

Lindsey told us: "We didn't want to have a normal wedding or a reception but still wanted to get married.

"Eloping seemed the fun thing to do - and we wanted to support the Smokey Paws charity by inviting our friends to a party after we were married.

"The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service don’t supply the lifesaving equipment that is required to resuscitate and assist animals and we weren't aware of any station in the Borders that had one."

Many local businesses supported Euan and Lindsey's fundraising evening by donating prizes for a raffle.

Among the companies was the Two Rivers Vets, who have also offered to help train firefighters in using the kits as well as provide medical aid to any animal injured during a blaze.

Lindsey added: "We have been overwhelmed with the level of generosity in the local community including our local vets in Peebles who have offered to train fire crews.

"We chose to donate kits to Selkirk and Galashiels because Euan was originally stationed at Selkirk, and his grandfather was a firefighter in Galashiels many years ago."

The couple will also donate an oxygen kit to the Dunblane Station after firefighters gave the couple a guard of honour on their big day.

And one is also being sent to Lindsey's hometown fire station in Larbert.

Smokey Paws was founded in April 2015 by couple Brian Lockyer and Lynn Carberry, who are originally from the United States, where many fire stations have the pet-sized masks.

They set-up the organisation with the aim of raising enough money to make the lifesaving kits available across the UK.

A spokesman for Smokey Paws said: "A fire in the home can still be an absolutely devastating experience even when people escape unhurt.

"For many people a pet is a member of their family and if it suffers from breathing in smoke then they look to our crews to help save its life.

“firefighters now have access to a piece of equipment that will help them to do that.”