Scottish Borders Council has given the go-ahead for a £28m flood protection scheme.

The scheme has been approved for Hawick, Roxburghshire, and comes eight years after the town was devastated by a severe deluge.

Plans for the protection scheme will now progress to the next stage. This will include undertaking a detailed survey and consultations as well as a public exhibition.

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The work is designed to defend the town from a major flood event, protecting 915 residential and commercial properties through the building of six kilometres of flood wall. Seven new flood gates will also be installed in the town.

The scheme, which will cost £27.9m, has been welcomed by local councillors.

Executive Member for Roads and Infrastructure, Gordon Edgar, said: "I am pleased that the preferred flood protection scheme is now approved and that we can progress to the next stages."

In 2005, severe flooding badly affected the area with the Teviot Water bursting its banks, causing hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of damage.

(JP/CD)