BANNERFIELD will be reconnected to the rest of Selkirk by the end of mext month.

The Bridge Street footbridge across the Ettrick Water was closed in May as part of the town’s Flood Protection Scheme.

Engineers spent almost a month dismantling the old iron bridge.

It led to a mile-long detour for anyone walking from the housing estate to reach the rest of the town.

Scott Marr from contractors RJ McLeod revealed that the new bridge will be delivered to the site during the first week in September.

He said: “The foundation work for the new bridge is now completed and we expect delivery of the bridge at the start of September.

“There will be three or four weeks of work to do once it is in place and then it will open. When the footbridge opens it will trigger further flood defence works in Bannerfield.” The 20-weeks closure of the footbridge has been heavily criticised by some residents.

Atholl Innes, who lives in nearby Yarrow Terrace, said: “There was absolutely no reason for a replacement bridge to be in place during the closure.

“This has been a great inconvenience to a lot of people. The cost of a replacement bridge would have been a drop in the ocean when you look at how much this scheme is costing.”