PARENTS across Peeblesshire are being left out of pocket following the school blaze in November.

Since the High School fire many mums, dads and carers have been waiting patiently for their children's belongings to be returned.

Although a crisis grant of £55 was offered by the local authority in December for anyone who qualified, many didn't apply, expecting to have their children's belongings returned following the festive period.

But in recent weeks uniforms, trainers, phones and schoolbags which have finally been salvaged from the school have come back smoke damaged beyond use.

And many other items are still missing.

One mum, who we agreed not to name, told us: "I didn't take up the £55 offer in December as I thought it would be cheeky of me as I'd be getting my daughter's things back.

"When we did receive her things last week they were ruined and will need to be replaced. There's also other items missing that haven't been returned.

"Even if I still qualify for the £55, it won't even cover the cost of her trainers, let alone the cost of her phone, bag, dress, gym kit, necklace and two rings.

"Thankfully we think her phone is still going to work.

"The council are telling me to claim from my own household insurance, but there's excess to pay and it also puts up the premium.

"Surely this is the council's responsibility - why can't we claim from their insurance?"

When the alarm was raised on Thursday, November 28 more than 1,000 pupils were evacuated, with most leaving behind their possessions.

Council officers had to wait until the fire-ravaged building was made safe early in the new year before they could begin emptying lockers and recovering bags, course work, PE kits, trainers, and phones.

Although the majority of items were in good condition, dozens of items of clothing and bags were severely smoke damaged while some were also lost in the blaze.

Another parent contacted us last week after attending a pick-up.

He said: "The advice we were given was to contact Citizens Advice as the council haven't insured our children's belongings.

"We ignored the crisis grant as we were assured our children's clothes would be returned - but all we have is part of a uniform that's ruined. The only reason they returned it was so I could take photos for my insurance company - not there's.

"Everything that was left in the school that day will need to be replaced.

"I appreciate what the council have had to do to get our children back to school but why aren't they responsible for everything that was damaged in their building?"

Scottish Borders Council returned the final 150 bags of retrieved goods last week.

But they are sticking to their initial advice about making claims from household insurance.

A spokesperson for the local authority said: “Fortunately an extremely small number of personal belongings were damaged or unrecoverable following the fire at Peebles High School in November.

“Where this has occurred, parents are advised to make a claim through their own household insurance which will likely cover personal belongings.

"If parents do not have insurance to cover these items in some circumstances a crisis grant may be available and they are encouraged to contact the council for support.

“No offer of any recompense has been made.”