An architect from Galashiels has scooped a brand new Tesla Model 3 – which hasn’t even been built yet – in a high-end raffle.

It’s the dream car for Norman Forsyth, who had put down a deposit for the £50,000 Tesla Model 3 three years ago.

However, he bought a £2.40 ticket from dream car giveaway company BOTB, and it came up trumps.

Norman, 60, who is currently working in Dubai but is originally from Galashiels, will be at the front of the queue when the new model hits the streets, although it’s not expected until the end of next year.

“I actually put a deposit down on the Model 3 back in 2015 so to win one is incredible,” he smiled.

“I don’t care how long it takes to arrive, it will be worth the wait!”

Norman may be in the land of the gas guzzler, where Lamborghini taxis are not uncommon, but he’s always had a soft spot for cars that are ‘different’.

“I’ve been working on a project in The Sustainable City in Dubai and it’s completely progressive when it comes to harnessing the Earth’s natural power and changing the way we normally live and work,” he said.

“Electric cars are very much the future.

“When you’ve owned a Citroen 2CV and a Fiat Multipla, that makes even more sense.”

Christian Williams, who delivered the good news, said Norman was the perfect Tesla evangelist.

“It doesn’t matter when this car actually gets built because you know that Norman will love every minute of it,” he said.

“Handing people the keys to their dream car is one of the best jobs in the world and while the actual model hasn’t been built yet we’ll make sure Norman is the first to get his hands on it when it does arrive.”

BOTB was founded by William Hindmarch in 1999 and runs a weekly car giveaway as well as a lifestyle competition giving players the chance to win a host of prizes from Lamborghinis to Rolexes.

The company has handed over the keys to more than £25m-worth of supercars and is listed on the stock market. It has a high-profile stand at Birmingham airport and in Britain’s biggest shopping centres, with 85% of all people playing online at BOTB.com

One of the smallest towns in the Borders is celebrating after receiving more than its fair share of recognition at a regional awards ceremony.

Dozens of Borders firms and individuals picked up accolades at the Scotland’s Business Awards Borders ceremony held at Peebles Hydro.

And amongst the 30-odd prize-winners were three delighted firms helping put Jedburgh very firmly on the business map.

Allan Learmonth’s High Street shop was named the region’s best butcher, the Capon Tree, at the foot of high street, was named best restaurant and completing the trio, right in the middle of the two, was Stems Florists, named best Jedburgh business.

Sarah Cross, a florist of 31 years and owner of Stems for the last seven of those, said that after missing out on the best florist award, the best Jedburgh business accolade came as a “great surprise” for her and her seven staff.

“I think these awards are fantastic for Jedburgh as I think we get overlooked as an excellent place to shop and eat,” she said. “I have always believed in giving excellent customer service and a really personal service.

“Shopping has changed so much, and I feel now the shops that survive are the ones that offer an enjoyable experience and are a pleasure to visit.

“The internet will always have its place, but I think shoppers are more and more wanting to see a face when they shop and to feel valued.”

Allan, last month was named as south east Scotland’s sliced sausage champion for the second year running, has run his High Street butchers for just over 13 years and employs six staff.

He added: “For a wee town like Jedburgh to have picked up these awards is great.

“We have a great high street and some excellent traders, so this recognition is really good for the town.

“It’s really important that the town sells itself.”

Ashley Wilkie, co-owner of the Capon Tree Town House with husband Alasdair for the past three-and-a-half years, added: “This is our second year winning this award.

“It’s a great achievement for all of our team. We all work really hard, and to get the recognition second time around is a great achievement.”

The regional winners will now go on to a national final in Glasgow in the spring.

Other Borders winners include best hair salon Bel Amis, Galashiels, best professional service provider Tara Grey Photography, of Kelso; best tattoo artist King Cobra, of Hawick; best specialised retailer Border Candles and Aromatics, of Coldingham; best bridal boutique Reflections, of Kelso; Alice Mackay, of Galashiels, for best beauty treatments; Dorota’s Wonder Cakes, of Hawick, for best baked goods; best cafe the Cream Chimneys in Kelso; best craft business Buttonmoon, of Newstead; best nail salon Nails by G, of Kelso; best pet care business Sandy Paws, of Auchencrow; best beauty salon Fi-Essence, of Melrose; consumers’ award winner Tweed Podiatry, of Kelso; best eatery the Fleece Bar and Kitchen in Selkirk; best fitness business RDAS CrossFit, of Tweedbank; best Melrose business the Crafters; best Kelso business Rutherfords micropub; best Selkirk business Floral Expressions; and best Hawick business Hunters Hair.

A funding boost of almost £50,000 has helped put in place a community takeover of a rare piece of woodland.

Peebles Community Trust is buying part of Eshiels Wood in Peebles, thanks to a community asset transfer buyout.

The group has received £48,765 to purchase 17 acres of the woodland, which lies to the east of the Tweedvale town.

There were previously concerns that the woodland would be snapped up by developers, leading to a reduction in community access and pathways, and the potential felling of a rare type of tree housed there.

Instead a conifer plantation, the only one in Scotland,to include currant shoot borer moth, will live on under community ownership.

Laurie Hayworth, chairman of Peebles Community Trust, said: “The woodland is popular with walkers, picnickers and cyclists, and there were fears that it could be sold to a commercial concern and clear-felled.

“Recent legislation has made it easier for communities to buy assets owned by public bodies and the group intends to enhance the environment while demonstrating innovative woodland management techniques.”

The trust intends to enhance the landscape and biodiversity at Eshiels Wood, improve public access and safeguard a cycle route, which runs alongside the River Tweed.

It will also reintroduce coppicing, a traditional method of woodland management, to ensure a variety of different light levels in the seven-hectare woodland and allow improved plant diversity.

Forestry Enterprise Scotland chief executive Trefor Owen welcomesthe takeover.

“The community asset transfers evaluation panel welcomed Peebles Community Trust’s intention for sustainable productive management of the woodland as a resource for wood fuel and income generation for community benefit, as well as a range activities focussed on education, training, learning and potential outdoor activities,” he said.

The woodland is one of seven projects benefiting from a £770,255 cash handout from the Scottish land fund for the purchase of land and building assets.

Jane Rosegrant, of the Border Forest Trust, added: “The site’s proximity to Peebles and position on the Tweed Valley Railway path and banks of the River Tweed, means it is already much visited by local people, walkers and cyclists.

“This welcome public use will not be lessened by the plans of the Eshiels group.

“In fact, their plans to introduce coppicing there and the overall aim to make it a more productive and more biologically diverse woodland should increase visitor interest as well as benefitting biodiversity.”

Minister, Cabinet Secretary for Land Reform Roseanna Cunningham said: “I would like to extend my congratulations to the successful projects.

“This funding award will allow them to act on ambitious plans to give potentially under-utilised buildings and land a better use, to the current and future benefit of their local communities.”

The Community Asset Transfer Scheme (CATS) was launched in January 2017 to enable communities under to purchase, lease or use National Forest Estate land if this can be shown to provides local benefits.

Forest Enterprise Scotland development manager Rebecca Carr said: “Since CATS was launched we have engaged with over 50 communities across Scotland regarding purchase or lease of sites on the National Forest Estate, and have received a further six Asset Transfer Requests, four of which we have now been approved.”

Time is running out for rabbits currently breeding in Jedburgh’s Castlewood Cemetery.

A cull of the animals, agreed by Scottish Borders Council in July looks set to get underway in the coming weeks.

That move comes after residents complained about the overwhelming number of rabbits running around the cemetery and wreaking havoc on graveside flowers, despite the installation of rabbit-proof fencing.

Jedburgh councillor Sandy Scott told the community council’s Tuesday meeting: “The gates to the cemetery have been off for repair works but will be going back on shortly.

“Once the gates are back in place, we will carry out final checks then arrange for Surekill to come in and play their part, which is to euthanise the bunnies.”

Though the rabbits’ days look to be numbered, the town’s community council is having less success when it comes to dealing with the town centre’s pigeon problem.

Community councillor Graham Hayward is calling for a pigeon cull, claiming the birds’ mess is proving troublesome for buildings in the town centre, and he has accused Scottish Borders Council environmental health officers of ignoring the issue.

“He has not spoken to the people he said he was going to,” he said on Tuesday.

“I find it difficult to understand why the council is not prepared to do anything about it. We are getting nowhere.

“Environmental health really needs to push this.”

Although Jedburgh councillor Jim Brown agreed that there was a “definite pigeon problem” in the town, he suggested it is not a job for environment health. He said: “There is one building in particular that is a breeding source for these birds.

“The council has more or less agreed that until we manage to block off the source of the pigeons, behind the Spread Eagle Hotel, we are unable to do very much about it.

“That has to be done with the agreement of the owner as it is private property.”

Mr Scott added: “This has been an ongoing situation for some time. I don’t know what we, as a council, can do about it.”

And his colleague Scott Hamilton warned: “Anything involving environmental health concerns can be a slow process. I’d suggest you may have more luck speaking to the property owner in question in person.”

A health worker has been spared jail for stealing £350 worth of donations from the Margaret Kerr Unit at the Borders General Hospital.

David Watson, 36, had denied taking that money from the palliative care unit at the Melrose hospital, his workplace for the last 12 years, on March 31 this year.

He was convicted of theft in the course of employment at a trial last month, however, after CCTV evidence and a witness statement provided “overwhelming” evidence of his guilt.

Watson, of Queen Elizabeth Square in Galashiels, was given a supervision order.

He was also ordered to carry out 200 hours’ unpaid work and to pay back the £350 he stole to the Margaret Kerr Unit.

Sheriff Kevin Drummond told him that sentence was an alternative to custody.

He said: “The evidence was overwhelming. Watson was, and still is, quite plainly in denial here.

“What he says is that he was given money to take upstairs to the accounts department and, while on his way, he had an urgent need to go to the toilet.

“He went into the toilet, left it in the toilet and walked out of the door again. He remembered and went back.

“He claimed he left the money for 45 seconds and it had been taken by somebody, then didn’t report the matter.

“He is, quite simply, in denial.”

Watson has since resigned from his job as an auxiliary nurse for NHS Borders, Jedburgh Sheriff Court heard yesterday.

“He acknowledges that his conviction has materially damaged the unit that he was working with,” said his defence lawyer, Mat Patrick.

“With a conviction such as this, his prospects in that area are now poor.”

“He is a first offender. It’s likely the court will never see him again, but, saying that, I have to acknowledge this was a significant breach of trust.”

Watson’s arrest followed an 18-month investigation into money going missing at the £4m unit, opened five years ago after a public fundraising drive to add to a legacy left by West Linton nurse Margaret Kerr. It is the region’s only end-of-life care facility.

The Royal British Legion Scotland club in Galashiels faces having to rethink its Remembrance Sunday plans as council officials and the police are objecting to its licensing application to open its bar earlier.

Scottish Borders Council officers have asked that this year’s remembrance parade through Galashiels take place earlier in the day than in previous years, prompting the licence holder for the Park Street social club, John Ballantyne, to put in a request for consent to sell alcohol from 9am on Sunday, November 11.

Despite requesting that the parade take place an hour earlier than usual, officers in the council’s licensing department are now objecting to Mr Ballantyne’s application to open the club’s bar earlier for parade-goers.

An objection letter written by licensing standards officer Ian Tunnah says: “The hours applied for are outwith the licensing board’s current policy.

“The licensing board policy states that the board will not normally grant applications for more than 14 hours in any 24-hour period. To grant the application would create a trading period for on sales of 15 hours on the date applied for.

“It may be considered more appropriate on this occasion to offer non-alcoholic refreshments prior to the solemn processions and ceremonies that follow.

“There will no doubt be the customary gathering at the premises after the parades and ceremonies when alcohol will be available.

“In my opinion, if the application was to be granted it would be contrary to the licensing objective of protecting and improving public health.”

Reacting to that objection, Mr Ballantyne said: “We want to open earlier just to give the marchers some light refreshment.

“It’s strange how the council has asked for the parade to be moved further forward but has then objected to us opening the bar earlier.

“There are a lot of respectable people who want this and have put their lives on the line. We have ex-servicemen and women who come in.”

The police have also objected, but their objection has been redacted from the council’s website. Police Scotland have been asked for comment but have yet to reply.

The parade, organised by the legion in Galashiels as part of the Gala Remembers celebration, takes place every year on Remembrance Sunday and involves hundreds of marchers from both military and civilian backgrounds.

Members of Scottish Borders Council’s licensing board are due to meet next Friday, October 26, to consider the application.

A man has been ordered to behave himself for the next four months after admitting telling a former partner ‘you need to watch out’ and persistently sending her threatening messages.

Christopher Tierney, 32, of Inchmyre, Kelso, admitted breaching bail conditions and behaving in a threatening or abusive manner by sending the woman, of Maxwell Park in Kelso, private messages via Facebook in August.

Of the eight messages sent, two were deemed to be abusive.

One read: “Go public with him. Don’t care, slag. Shows you never will change.”

Another said: “You need to watch out. I have grasses. Watch your back. No one likes you anyway.”

Tierney’s defence laywer, Mat Patrick, told Jedburgh Sheriff Court the relationship was more than a friendship and that his client had become upset after feeling he’d been unfairly treated by the woman in question.

“He responded in frustration and said some fairly unkind things. I don’t think he appreciated the seriousness of the situation,” said Mr Patrick.

Sheriff Kevin Drummond urged Tierney to cut all ties with his former partner.

“There may be a significant temptation to respond if she contacts you,” he said. “You must not do that or you will find yourself back in here. It’s over. Let it be.”

Sentencing was deferred until February 18.

Plans by Home Bargains to take over Hawick’s Homebase store would almost double the number of staff employed there, it has been revealed.

The discount retailer’s proposed move into the Galalaw Retail Park shop would create 50 full-time jobs, almost twice the workforce of 27 currently employed there by the troubled do-it-yourself chain.

Hawick’s Homebase, opened in 2005, is scheduled to close on Saturday, November 10, a month earlier than first announced, and TJ Morris, the parent company of Home Bargains, hopes to be able to move in soon after that with a view to opening in spring next year.

It reportedly plans to spend £5m on redeveloping the site.

The Liverpool-headquartered firm operates 481 store across the UK, employing around 17,000 workers.

Among them is the £4m store it opened in Galashiels in July, creating dozens of jobs in a 25,000sq ft unit in Stirling Street after relocating from a smaller unit in Channel Street.

It is the chain’s only store in the Borders at present, and, like the planned one in Hawick, it employs a workforce of 50.

Home Bargains’ interest in the soon-to-close store has been welcomed by the town’s MP and councillors.

Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk MP John Lamont said: “It is hugely encouraging to hear that another company is already keen to take on the property set to be vacated by Homebase.

“While we have had some disappointing closures in recent months, a lot of new investment is coming to Hawick.

“This news is a reflection of the fact that the town is an increasingly attractive place for businesses.

“Home Bargains would be a good fit for taking over the site in Galalaw, and I’d hope it means that at least some of the Homebase staff will be able to find new employment.

“It sounds like we might end up with more jobs at Galalaw than at the moment, which would be an excellent start to 2019 for Hawick.

“I would urge Scottish Borders Council to work with Home Bargains to help get this planning application through as soon as is reasonably possible to try to minimise the amount of time the unit is empty.”

Hawick and Denholm councillor Stuart Marshall also welcomed the news, saying: “The announcement by Home Bargains that they would like to invest £5m in our town is fantastic news, and I certainly think that a dark cloud may well have been lifted on the Homebase site.

“The possibility of creating 50 full-time jobs is a real shot in the arm for our town, and after speaking with Homebase staff earlier today, the mood amongst some staff is certainly more optimistic in terms of their future.

“We must, however, not lose sight of the fact that, at this stage, a planning application is now live, and it must be allowed to follow the appropriate channels of the council, but I think many people in Hawick will be delighted that such a famous retail discount store is showing such interest in our town.

“I have always been of the belief that the more choice a town can offer, then the greater chance of attracting visitors to the area.”

Hawick and Hermitage councillor Davie Paterson added: “It is great that another business wants to take over Homebase. Hopefully, they can retain all or as many jobs as possible.”

A spokesperson for Home Bargains said: “TJ Morris are delighted to bring Home Bargains to Galalaw Retail Park in Hawick.

“We are currently in planning to allow us to open the store and look forward to opening in early 2019, all going well.

“This proposal involves a significant investment from TJ Morris, in the region of £5m, with the opportunity to create 50 full-time jobs.

“Following the planned closure of the Homebase store later this year, we are keen to progress with this exciting project as soon as we can.”

A planning application for TJ Morris submitted by Glasgow-based planning consultancy Iceni Projects would see 30% of the 12,600sq m site given over to food retailing,

A Galashiels pub is thinking big as it presses ahead with plans to expand into a neighbouring shop.

JD Wetherspoon has already secured planning consent to extend its Hunters Hall pub in High Street into a former butcher’s next door, and now it’s applying to vary its premises licence to increase the number of customers it can cater for at any one time.

It wants to increase its current capacity of 394 by half again to 594.

Scottish Borders Council’s licensing board is to consider the application this Friday, October 26, and representatives of the Hertfordshire-based pub chain have been asked to attend that meeting at the authority’s Newtown headquarters to state their case.

The pub is about to be extended into the old JB Hogg butcher’s shop, vacant since the retiral of boss Jim Hogg in 2013.

A spokesman for Wetherspoon said: “The majority of the existing appearance will remain the same, with the front elevation of the butcher’s re-using existing openings.

“To the rear, the existing outbuildings will be retained in form with mainly internal alterations, including the removal of the intermediate floor to enhance the space and make suitable for an external dining area.

“During the design of the current proposals, it has been noted that the proposed development is located within the Galashiels conservation area and, as such, the proposals to the front elevation are very minor.”

Planning permission for the pub to be extended was granted in June subject to various conditions including limiting its beer garden’s opening hours to 11am to 10.30pm daily and agreeing any external redecoration with the council before proceeding.

The application sparked four objections from neighbours fearful of further disruption, but in a report to councillors recommending approvaln, planning officer Carlos Clarke said: “The principle is agreeable as the site is within the town centre and is not within the protected retail frontage.

“This proposal will reuse an existing shop and encourage commercial activity alongside the existing public house and amongst offices, joiners and other commercial uses.

“The overall result of these works will amount to relatively minor changes to the existing arrangement.

“Subject to conditions covering specifications, the proposals will not detract from the character or appearance of the conservation area.”

The Hunters Hall, opened in the late 1990s, is one of three Wetherspoon pubs in the Borders, the others being the Bourtree at Hawick and the Cross Keys at Peebles.

Friday’s licensing board meeting begins at 10am.

No objections have been submitted to the licence variation requested.

Tourism in Hawick is poised for a major boost, thanks to a new research centre set to attract family history buffs from across the world.

On Saturday, November 3, the UK’s first internment Research Centre is being launched at Hawick’s heritage hub.

The event will establish the town as the place to go for anyone across the world wanting to research their own family’s genealogy and for scholars seeking more information on the 68 prisoner-of-war camps spread across the British Commonwealth during the First World War, including Stobs Camp, near Hawick.

The ambitious project has been made possible by input from Archaeology Scotland and Stefan Manz, a professor at Aston University in Birmingham.

Next month’s launch is attracting scholars from across the UK and Europe, and opening the event will be Jens-Peter Voss, German consul for Edinburgh.

Hannah Bell, digital archivist for the Stobs Camp Project, said: “We’re hoping it will bring in people from all over the world, whether it be people who are tracing their own ancestry or scholars researching internment itself.

“It will have quite an impact on the town and boost tourism.”

In addition to books and artefacts, the research centre, to occupy a designated space within the hub, will include information in digital form.

Taking Stobs Camp as a starting point, the centre will be the only one in Britain to study past and present internment throughout the British Empire, including camps in Africa, the Mediterranean, India, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the Caribbean.

Various international scholars will give presentations on life behind the wire during the First World War at the launch, and there will also be displays of artefacts, collections, books, and translations of the Stobs Camp newspaper and internee letters into English to see.

Hannah said: “It’s going to be an access point located within the heritage hub, so we’re going to have a collection of books here which have been published on the various camps.

“There are 68 camps in total. Obviously, not all will be covered, but we will have a lot of information on them.

“We also have the Stobs Camp archives here, and that will be part of the research centre as well.

“What it aims to do is show internment in a local and global context, so it will present information on what the home front experience would have been, military history, the experience of minorities during wartime and family history.”

Hannah said that creating the research centre had proved a real eye-opener.

She said: “When I first approached this, I had a very narrow view of what internment was like during the First World War, and looking at Stobs and the various other camps really changed what I thought internment was.

“I thought it was a very confined – marches and doing things by certain times – but we have performances that the prisoners put on, plays that they did, concerts that they hosted.

“There were choirs, a drama group within the camp, a sports committee, so it was almost like its own community.

“We have a diary of a woman who used to live near Stobs and she actually talks about a prisoner who died and was buried at the First World War cemetery at Stobs, which has been restored and will be unveiled on November 11.

“In her diary, this woman talks about one of the fathers of the boys buried there coming back year after year from Germany and actually staying with the family near Stobs every year on the anniversary of his son’s death.”

Following the launch, from 9am to 2pm, there will be the opening, at 2pm, of the refurbished war memorial room in Hawick Museum and an exhibition called Behind the Wire: Civilian Internment in the British Empire 1914-1919.

The event is free, but booking is required.

For further details, contact localhistory@liveborders1.org or phone 01450 360699.

Street lights that stay on all night and day are depriving householders in Hawick of sleep, bleary-eyed locals say.

Some residents of Gladstone Street say they have been unable to get much shut-eye of late because new energy-saving lights there are on around the clock and they’re now urging Scottish Borders Council to leave them in the dark.

They have also accused the council of wastefulness and environmental irresponsibility.

However, the council says the problem is an issue for the supplier of the new LED lights installed in the street, adding that it is being addressed.

The matter has been raised by Hawick and Hermitage councillor Davie Paterson, and he said: “My constituents are extremely concerned that Scottish Borders Council has street lights burning 24/7 when there is absolutely no need for it.

“Some of them can’t get any sleep at night because of the light streaming into their homes, and urgent action needs to be taken.

“It can’t be any fun, especially when you have to get up for work in the morning.

“They are especially concerned as the council is having to make so many cutbacks in other areas – for example, changing the grass-cutting regime from every two weeks to every month.

“They can make those cuts and yet can burn lights every hour of the day.

“What about a bit of consideration for the environment?”

The council spokesperson said: “The council is aware of an issue with the new LED lights in Gladstone Street, Hawick, where the lights remain switched on.

“Officers continue to hold discussions with the supplier in an effort to fix this issue as quickly as possible.

“There is no additional cost to the council from this issue.

“The LED lighting scheme has seen almost all street lights – 17,800 – as well as 1,200 signs and bollards in the Borders changed to energy-efficient lights over a four-year period.

“The project is delivering significant financial savings each year in reduced energy costs while also improving the performance of street lighting across the region.”

The future of a Borders brain injury charity is hanging in the balance after a hoped-for £35,000 donation from the National Lottery failed to materialise.

Heads Together was relying on that money to go towards the £65,000 purchase of the building in Hawick’s Dovemount Place it is based at.

The property will be sold unless those funds can be raised by the end of the year, it fears.

Despite now having a sizeable setback to overcome, the charity’s founder and chairman, Steven Turnbull, remains hopeful the purchase can go ahead.

Hawick’s common good fund committee is expected to decide at its next meeting, scheduled for December, if it can help out, and Steven, 56, is waiting for other funding bids to be considered too.

He said: “After 10 weeks of thinking that we had a grant from the National Lottery, they rang up to say the lady we had been dealing with had made a mistake and they cannot fund what they indicated they would, that they had pulled out.

“I had put an application in for £35,000, and they said they couldn’t help at all.

“They say they can’t help with buying the place but they could help with things after we buy it, but the urgency is buying the building because we are running out of time.

“We also had hoped that a grant application to Scottish Borders Council would be successful, but now we have been told they can’t help either.

“We have £15,000 we raised ourselves, and the common good fund in Hawick, to which we put in a grant application for £15,000, say they are 100% behind us.

“However, they won’t commit to an amount until we’re a bit closer to the getting the building.

“Their next meeting is in December and we may find out then how much they can give us.

“We also have a charity that is coming out to meet us, the Truemark Trust, which we have a £10,000 application in to, and the lady there has told us she will be rooting for us, so I think we may get that one.

“There are a lot of applications I have put in that I have not had an answer from yet, so things can change at any time, and I am certainly not giving up.

“We are still very hopeful, but after the lottery indicated we would be successful we thought we had nearly done it, so that was a massive blow.

“The landlady of the building does want to sell to us and we may be able to get an extension to the deadline at the end of December. We remain positive.”

The majority of Heads Together’s service users, all suffering various degrees of brain injury, are from Hawick and Galashiels, and Steven says he is worried about the unsettling impact that the charity, founded in 2010, moving to a new base might have on them.

“They feel secure here. That’s why we want to stay,” he added.

Plans are being drawn up to return wildcats to the Borders for the first time in decades.

Conservation group Wildcat Haven proposes reintroducing the wildcat, currently confined to the north of the country, to both sides of the Scottish-English border to establish a population here and in Dumfries and Galloway, Cumbria and Northumberland.

Starting initially with Galloway, that proposed population of one of the world’s rarest mammals would then be encouraged to spread west and south into the Borders and beyond.

Paul O’Donoghue, chief scientific adviser at Denbighshire-based Wildcat Haven, said: “The British ecology needs a wildcat in it, and wildcats fit in perfectly, helping to control species like rabbit and actively avoiding conflict with humans.

“The Highlands can’t afford to lose any Scottish wildcats so we’ll be looking to healthy, wild-living European populations and using them to re-establish a British wildcat population on both sides of the Scottish-English border.

“We’ve seen that wildcats can really thrive in man-made forests, and an important part of our research is understanding how we can create a sustainable population in this environment.

“The Galloway-Northumberland border region is often overlooked, but this is one of the most well connected and diverse habitats in the UK and certainly rivals the Highlands for biodiversity potential.”

Survey and research work is already under way in the Galloway Forest.

The plan is being backed by landowners including London-based Gresham House Forestry.

Jason Sinden, its director of forestry, said: “Gresham House manages almost 140,000 acres of forestry assets in the border region.

“These forests are managed to produce a sustainable supply of timber, and this helps to create almost ideal habitats for a range of native woodland specialists such as red squirrels, badgers and roe deer.

“The forests are now being re-colonised by pine martens, and we hope that the habitat can also be suitable for the wildcat, which is such an important component of forest eco-systems.

“We will be working with Wildcat Haven to identify appropriate sites for release and monitoring.”

Dr O’Donoghue added: “Wildcats once lived across the UK.

“Deforestation was the thing that wiped most of them out, but that’s a trend which has reversed considerably over the last century.

“There’s an incredible amount of space from Edinburgh and Glasgow all the way down to Leeds, York and the proposed Northern Forest project, and it’s crying out for the wildlife which lived there in the past.

“The wildcat is the UK’s most endangered animal, and it’s probably the most charismatic and iconic species that has managed to cling on here against all odds.

“They’re incredible survivors, and I have no doubt they will thrive in the forests of the Southern Uplands and Northern England.

“Our British wildcat project is the beginning of a conservation and rewilding mega-project.”

Scotland’s pure wildcat population is estimated to have dwindled to between 35 and 200, but Wildcat Haven hopes to increase that to more than 1,000.

Proposals are also currently being considered for a trial release of a larger wildcat, the Eurasian lynx, just south of the border in Kielder Forest.

A man has been ordered to carry out 90 hours’ unpaid work after admitting hitting himself over the head with a wine bottle, drawing blood and knocking himself out.

Kieran Barron, 20, of Bridge Street, Selkirk, pleaded guilty at the town’s sheriff court to threatening or abusive behaviour and threatening to harm himself.

That offence was committed in Selkirk on July 21.

A combined bookshop, café, delicatessen and homeware shop in St Boswells is once again in the running to be named Britain’s Best Small Shop.

Having been shortlisted in the same competition – run by the Independent Retailers Confederation (IRC) – in 2015, when they were one of only two shops given a “highly reccomended” tag, Bill and Rosamund de la Hey, owners of Mainstreet Trading Company, are delighted at getting a second go at winning the title.

The business is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, having added a Deli & Home section in 2012, thereby expanding its customer base.

However, it’s what it does behind the scenes that is catching the judges’ eyes.

Innovations introduced by the business include the ‘A Year of Books’ subscription service; Book Burrows, two ‘dens’ where the shop plays children’s audio books, and the Love Your Indie book loyalty card.

Rosamund is also passionate about her bid to “break the barrier” between children and books by taking authors to Borders primary schools and letting the children meet them, face to face.

“We are always looking for ways to engage with the local community,” said Rosamund. “Whether that’s through our bookshop van, which aims to ensure every child in the Borders meets an author through Mainstreet during their school life; through our Summer Reading Diary where children review up to six books with the winners receiving their height in books or our noticeboard to publicise free local arts events.”

Rosamund added: “We launched the bookvan in 2016 with Michael Morpurgo [author of War Horse] and it’s been going strong ever since.

“Our next one is in a couple of weeks, with illustrator Chloe Inkpen.

“To have every child meet an author in their primary school years, we need to reach around 1,500 children a year.

“It’s important thing for us to do, as passionate supporters of children’s books.”

With the rise of electronic book readers, it is heartening to the de la Heys to see there are still people passionate about the printed word.

Rosamund added: “The last time we were in this competition there were three bookshops shortlisted. This time there are four, which is really encouraging in the current climate.”

The Best Small Shops competition is sponsored by booost, the brand new loyalty, gift and promotions app for independent retailers and their customers, and celebrates the commitment and creativity of independent retailers in the UK and the central role they play in their local communities.

The winner will be announced at an event at the Houses of Parliament on November 13.

“Despite all of the bad headlines and the high-profile closures of larger stores, we firmly believe that specialist independent retailers can thrive in this climate by delivering a truly unique retail experience,” said Mark Walmsley, chairman of the IRC.

“The Best Small Shops competition enables us celebrate this unique industry, the passion, service, flexibility and knowledge of independent shop owners offer and show customers what makes independent retailers so special.”

The Caddy Mann restaurant, tucked away on the A698 between Jedburgh and Kelso, has been punching above its weight in a national competition.

The popular Borders eatery, owned and run by Lynne and Ross Horrocks for the last 14 years, beat off stiff opposition from some famous national eateries to claim overall third place in the Best Restaurant Regularly Serving Game category at the prestigious Eat Game awards, held at a glitzy ceremony in London’s Canary Wharf earlier this month.

The Eat Game Awards is an exciting initiative aimed at celebrating all that is best about wild British produce, by recognising great culinary achievements and other contributions to the cooking and eating of game.

Other nominees and finalists on the night were the likes of Michelin-starred chefs Tom Kitchin, Jamie Oliver, James Martin, Rosemary Shrager, Angela Hartnett and the legendary Fergus Henderson.

“This is a huge achievement for us and our team as a small rural restaurant” said Ross, who works tirelessly as the Caddy Mann’s chef while wife Lynne runs front of house. “To get through to the final was a great surprise to us, but getting thi rd best restaurant in the UK is amazing.”

Over the years, we have built up great relations with neighbouring gamekeepers, estates and farmers, and we have always done our upmost to utilise the superb natural larder that we have in the area, long before it became a fashionable thing to do.

“We are in such a perfect location in the Borders and there is so much wonderful natural food right here that is often overlooked for easier options.

“Wild game is some of the heathiest, and tastiest food that you can eat, and it’s right here on our doorstep.”

The restaurant’s menu – which varies day to day depending on what is available or what is in season – often includes dishes using pigeon, venison ... and even squirrel.

The annual Eat Game Awards reflect the ever-growing use of wild game, highlighting the champions of British game and rewarding their success, innovation and passion in working with this natural countryside harvest.

Also nominated in the category of Best Restaurant Regularly Serving Game was the Tweed Restaurant at Dryburgh Abbey Hotel – proving the region is up there with the best when it comes to game.

Selkirk’s stunning poppy cascades was put in place on Friday, both at the town’s Parish Church and the Pant Well in the Market Place.

It certainly shows the true power of community involvement, and just how deeply the loss of 292 men in the First World War was felt throughout the Royal Burgh, as each and every family would have been affected in some way.

Now, 100 years on, volunteers across the town helped out to mark the centenary by knitting or felting poppies – more than 9,000 of them – attached to cargo nets, which cascade down from the church’s spire to the ground, and covers the top of the Pant Well.

Several volunteers gave up even more of their time over the last two Fridays to put the finishing touches to the display.

A few of the poppies are white, representing peace and some are purple, for the animals who died.

The original target was for 292 poppies to be made by members of the community – including the famous Selkirk Yarnbombers.

That target was quickly met, so a new target of 1,296, one for every Souter who went to war, was made – and just as quickly surpassed. The incredible final total is roughly equal to one for every person living in the Selkirk parish.

Thanking the volunteers, Mr Deacon said: “As a community, it’s been fantastic because people have organised little groups together.

“Some people have even used it for rehab, recovering from hospital operations.”

This Saturday, a memorial plaque commemorating the players and officials of the town’s rugby club who fell in the war will be unveiled at the Philiphaugh ground on Saturday, November 3, with a lunch prior to the unveiling costing £25 per head.

A 40-year-old man has appeared from custody at Selkirk Sheriff Court accused of causing a disturbance in a Galashiels pub at the weekend.

Simon Hadden is charged with struggling violently with three police constables at the Bridge Inn on Saturday and hitting one in the face.

He is also said to have behaved in a threatening or abusive manner in the Island Street pub, in a police vehicle en route to Hawick police station and at the accident-and-emergency department at the Borders General Hospital in Melrose.

Hadden faces a fourth charge of attempting to punch an officer at Hawick police station.

He pleaded not guilty to all four charges, and a trial date was fixed for January 8 at Selkirk Sheriff Court, with an intermediate hearing on December 17.

Hadden was released on bail with special conditions not to enter the Bridge Inn or consume alcohol, and he must provide police with a breath sample if required.

He was also placed on curfew at his home in Hawthorn Road, Galashiels, between the hours of 7pm and 7am.

The campaign to reinstate the former Waverley line through Hawick to Carlisle “absolutely transcends politics” according to Scottish Borders Council leader, Shona Haslam.

Speaking at the Campaign for Borders Rail AGM on Saturday, which featured a public ‘Question Time’ style debate, Mrs Haslam emphasised the benefits being closer to rail services would have for communities around the Borders.

Addressing a 200-strong audience of campaign members and guests in Hawick High School, she said: “This absolutely transcends politics, and we have to work together to make sure this is achieved.”

Also on the panel were John Stevenson MP from the Borderlands Growth Initiative; John Lamont, Conservative MP for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk; the SNP’s Paul Wheelhouse, MSP for South Scotland; transport and tourism academic Brian Eaton; and Richard Morris, chairman of the Friends of the Carlisle and Settle Line.

During the lively debate, chaired by campaign chairman Simon Walton, Mr Lamont and Mr Wheelhouse clashed over their respective track records on support of the campaign’s cause, with Mr Lamont accused of “flip flopping” over the issue - a charge he denied.

However, answering questions from the audience, they did agree on the benefits that rail infrastructure would bring to the community.

Mr Walton said that was a real endorsement of the campaign’s hard work over the past year.

“That politicians demonstrated they are united behind the project, proves how far we’ve come,” he said.

The meeting heard that the Holyrood will take forward two rail proposals from the recent Borders Transport Corridors Study, compiled for Transport Scotland, which identifies reopening the line from Tweedbank to Carlisle as an option for examination, as well as a possible link to the East Coast Main Line.

“This time last year we were anticipating the Borders Transport Corridor Study with some trepidation. However, the report has been taken forward by Government, and there’s not just one option for further investigation; we’re told there are two,” Mr Walton said.

“The report has put forward for further evaluation an option to reinstate the former Waverley line through Hawick to Carlisle, but also to consider a connection to the East Coast Main Line at Berwick.

“We’re not ruling out any such possibility, but our aim remains onwards through Hawick to Carlisle, and we will be lobbying for that route as a priority in the coming year.

“The bottom line is that a new rail service through Hawick and the Scottish Borders will go a long way towards solving many of the economic and social challenges faced by the region. It will be the most tangible and achievable way to kick-start that regeneration process, and bring about the best return on investment for the benefit of the widest possible cross-section of the community.”

Brian Eaton, who has extensive experience of the value of rail development around the world, cited other examples of sparsely populated areas generating larger than expected traffic flows, including the New Zealand National Park, which has virtually no resident population, but due to the accessibility afforded by rail transport, is among the busiest places on the North Island.

Richard Morris recounted how the Carlisle and Settle Line, which was threatened with closure in the 1980s, had helped support enterprise in the rural economy, and greatly raise the profile and attraction of the region to a worldwide market, while Carlisle MP John Stevenson reiterated his support for funding of a full feasibility study into reinstating the link through the Borders to Carlisle.

Concluding,Mr Walton insisted the campaign was “closer now than ever” to seeing its ambition achieved.

“Every day the campaign brings us closer to achieving what we once thought was an impossible dream.

“We now know it isn’t impossible it’s very much on the agenda on both sides of the border,” he said.

Police are urging golf clubs to be vigilant and ensure that their property is secure after burglars targeted two greenkeeper sheds in one night.

Thieves broke into the shed at Jedburgh Golf Club, and stole petrol and tools on Tuesday night, with an attempted break in at Hawick Golf Club the same night.

Inspector John Scott of Kelso Police Station said: “We would urge golf clubs to check their security and take appropriate steps to keep their property safe.

“Steps to make sheds secure include using sturdy locks and installing CCTV alarms. Any clubs who would like crime prevention advice can contact their local policing team.”

Anyone who may have seen suspicious activity around golf clubs are asked to contact police on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.