Scottish Water is continuing work to repair a major part of the sewer network in Hatwick.

The sewer on Duke Street suffered severe and unprecedented damage during Storm Desmond in December 2015.

Further storms in 2016 also caused further damage and setbacks to scheduled works. Affected streets near the bank of the River Teviot included Mansfield Road, Duke Street and Glebe Mill Street.

Contractors are now nearing completion on the £1.2 million repair project, with Mansfield Road reopening on Wednesday, 14 December.

Bill Elliot, Scottish Water's Community Team Manager for the Scottish Borders, said all works are completed with the exception of the tie in to the existing sewerage network at Duke Street and the removal of the temporary over pumping arrangement.

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While the contractor has encountered an obstruction under the River Bed at Duke Street, it is estimated all works will be finished by the end of January 2017.

Mr Elliot said: "Before repair work could begin teams had to overcome technically challenging issues such as restoring roads and access points, working under the water and keeping silt disturbance to a minimum to protect aquatic life such as salmon.

"Improvement works were also carried out to the riverbank to enhance Hawick's flood defences with the aim of preventing a repeat incident.

"Our collaboration with stakeholders, contractors, SEPA and Scottish Borders Council ensured these works were carried out safely and with the least possible disruption to the local community and natural environment."

Cllr Stuart Marshall said: "We were assured that Mansfield Road will be open to traffic this week and this is great news and very positive for local residents and businesses. The news in Duke Street is not so encouraging but the contractors are clearly getting to grip with the scale of the problem and hopefully this will resolved very soon."

(LM/MH)