THE number of empty properties in Langlee is “quite concerning”, according to the chairperson of the local residents association.

While thousands of residents sit on a housing waiting list, homes in Langlee Drive, Beech Avenue and Rose Court remain empty - some of them for almost two years.

Langlee Residents Association were told of the concerns at their meeting this month.

Chairperson Judith Cleghorn, who is hoping to transform one of the empty homes into a community house for local residents, said: “It is quite concerning.” Meanwhile, it has emerged that some tenants are ripping up bushes from their roots now that the local housing association only cuts them once a year.

A Scottish Borders Housing Association tenant, who we have decided not to name, made the admission this week. And she claimed housing chiefs could save themselves a lot of money by removing shrubbery from all its properties.

She added: “The bushes haven’t been done the great way they should have been done and they are growing again now.”