IT is far from the final cut for a Peebles hair salon owner as she prepares to relocate her business – and reopen just a few yards away.

A planning application has been submitted to Scottish Borders Council to convert what is now the Daft Dug hairdressing and beauty salon at 76 High Street into a residential property.

The application has been submitted by the property owner Murray Campbell but Sara Jane Maciver, who has run the salon for more than a decade, is to continue to run the popular business from an outbuilding she has converted at the rear of the existing premises.

Sara said: “I’m moving behind the building. Downstairs below me is a commercial shop and an outbuilding at the back has been converted to accommodate the business, so I’m literally just moving down the stairs and out the back.

“I’ve been here 11 years in this property and the other property has been sitting there empty for a couple of months ready to move in to but the owner can’t convert this premises into a flat until until I’m out of here, so we’re waiting on the council. The new premises is all fitted out and ready to go.”

Sara said Peebles High Street was upwardly mobile and called on Scottish Borders Council to support its continued growth with the speedy resolution of planning applications.

She said: “There are quite a few businesses in the High Street that are waiting to open, one was meant to be open at Easter time. That’s a café that is to open in the former Greggs premises and they are waiting, like us, for clearance from the council. Someone has taken it over and it’s ready to open.

“I’d like to see the process moving faster, as I’m sure the owner of the building would.”

A report with the application says: “The flat will provide accommodation consisting of one double and one single bedroom so will be ideally suited for a small family or two individuals wishing to live within the heart of the Peebles town centre.”