A new £1m depot facility in Kilmarnock has been officially opened by SP Energy Networks.

The facility will be the company's main engineering base for the Ayrshire and Clyde South Zone.

The new depot will act as the main hub for delivering maintenance work on the network, and will also oversee a planned investment of more than £150m in the Ayrshire network over the next eight-year period.

In addition, in the event of severe winter weather affecting the area, the Kilmarnock depot will become the main Emergency Action Centre for co-ordinating an appropriate storm response.

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Professor Sir Jim McDonald, Principle and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Strathclyde, attended the official opening. He said: "The new depot in Kilmarnock is an impressive facility. It will play a really important role in supporting the engineers and office teams who look after thousands of miles of the electricity network.

"I was delighted to come and officially open the new depot today, and it was a pleasure to speak to the men and women who are based here, and work so hard to keep the lights on in Ayrshire."

Frank Mitchell, CEO of SP Energy Networks, added: "We have significant investment plans for the Ayrshire region, and our new state-of-the-art facility in Kilmarnock will be at the centre of our plans. It will also be the main hub to manage our emergency response activity, such as storm events during the winter, as we have seen in the last few years."

(JP/CD)