DESPITE this year's Beltane Festival being cancelled due to coronavirus, the Callants still turned out to keep Peebles clean and "looking good".

Around 20 volunteers gathered on Sunday (May 31) at 9am to remove weeds and litter across central areas of the town.

The clean-up, held before the Beltane each year, collected more than 20 bags of weeds this time round.

The High Street, Eastgate, Northgate and the Old Town were all looked after by the volunteers, who were armed with garden tools, gloves and 'high-vis' vests.

Chief Callant Andrew Williamson told the Peeblesshire News: "This year, because of lockdown, council workers are not out, so the town has more weeds than usual.

"We had one or two comments online so we brought the clean-up forward.

"We would usually do it the Sunday before Beltane."

Mr Williamson, 55, said Tweed Bridge and Cuddy Bridge also received the clean-up treatment a fortnight ago.

He added that after both events, the town is now "looking good".

Across the Borders, summer festivals have been cancelled, including West Linton's Whipman Play and Innerleithen's St Ronan's Border Games.

The Chief Callant described how he felt about the cancellation of this year's celebrations.

He said: "It's disappointing, but there is not much we can do.

"The last time the festival stopped was probably World War Two.

"But every festival is the same. We'll have to come back next year bigger and better than before."

Updates on the Beltane Festival 2021 can be found on the festival's Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/PeeblesBeltaneFestival/