A BORDERS taxi firm has been hailed local heroes for going the extra mile and ensuring dialysis patients got their life-saving treatment during the recent ‘beast from the east’ storms.

Staff from Five Star Taxis this week had an injection of praise from staff and patients on the dialysis ward at Borders General Hospital in Melrose.

Julie Campbell, senior charge nurse at the Borders Dialysis Unit told the Border Telegraph: “We cover a large demographic area of the Scottish Borders and without our Five Star colleagues we would be unable to provide such an amazing and person centred service.

“We would also like to thank our local Scottish Ambulance Service who, as always, were exceptional during this difficult time, they worked well as a team to safely ensure that our patients attended their appointments which is not always an easy task.

“The communication between all professionals during this time made a challenging few days go without fault, and makes us proud to be a part of such a great team.”

Dialysis patients have also offered their praise.

Eddie from Hawick said: “Diane did a great job, we thought due to extreme weather conditions we would be a least an hour late and we were only 15-20mins late. Really good service.”

Brian from Broughton added: “I could not speak more highly of Five Star, they have never let me down, always got me in to my appointments. Even in the worst weather.”

Isobel from Norham said: “We had a long journey in as I live so far away, but even when the roads were at their worst, the driver was calm and very careful. Big thanks to them for getting me in for my treatment.”

And Steven from Duns added: “I would like to thank Brian in the 4x4 - what an amazing job. It is usually a 40 minute journey home but ended up being two and a half hours, so a big thank you to that driver for getting me home safely.”

Kaye Niven, operational director at Five Star Taxis said: “Thank you to the staff at the BGH and to all of the patients for their kind thoughts about us going above and beyond the call of duty during the bad weather.

“We had around five drivers, including myself, who worked to get patients to the hospital for their treatment during those days when the snow hit. We have a number of vehicles which are equipped to deal with the winter weather.

“Over the years, our drivers have built up relationships with the patients we take to and from the BGH, and the recent snowfall wasn’t going to stop us from doing our job.”