Work is underway on the first phase of Scottish Water's £120 million drinking water investment programme in East Renfrewshire and Ayrshire.

Pipe installation works are being carried out for a 13 mile-long strategic water main from near Newton Mearns to the Fenwick/Waterside area.

The scheme follows 18 months of preparatory work, including the creation of a strip for the water main to be installed, and involved close liaison with landowners and statutory bodies as well as detailed ecological studies.

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Scottish Water contractors are now setting up welding areas and excavating five metre-deep trenches before using a crane to lower 12 metre-long sections of pipe into place.

It is expected the water mains construction will take around four years and will create a 'larger, more robust' connected supply.

Other sections of new mains include a section of about 13 miles from the Fenwick Waterside area to Dundonald in South Ayrshire and a section of about six miles from the Pollok area to a reservoir storage tank in the south of Glasgow

Stewart Davis, Scottish Water's programme manager, said: "We are delighted to have completed all the preparatory work for this section of main and to have started the construction phase.

"This is a major piece of work on the first phase of Scottish Water's overall investment in improvements to connect the system in Ayrshire with the Greater Glasgow area's network."

(LM)