A BORDERS farmer has paid a big ‘thank ewe’ to the frontline workers battling coronavirus.

Kevin Wood, of Peebles, herded his flock in a stunning tribute to the NHS (see second photo above), with the stunt filmed by friend Sam Anderson.

Sam, who owns DiCE Imaging, explained that he wanted to get some filming of lambs for stock footage and to create materials for farming students.

Sam told us: “I then had the idea that we could try and write something - 'Thanks' or 'NHS' - and hoped it would work using the sheep.”

It turned out that the Whitehaugh farmer had the exact same idea.

“Great minds think alike,” said Sam. “I spoke to Kevin who wasn’t sure how it was going to work out as it’s difficult for him to see when driving but I had the perfect view.

"We wanted to say thanks to all NHS and key workers in a different and creative way.”

The gesture was filmed at Standalane Farm which Kevin rents in the summer months for grazing.

Kevin said: “Sam wanted to do some drone footage of the sheep and lambs and so we both thought it would be a good idea to spell 'NHS' with the feeding as our wee tribute.”

But their “wee tribute” turned out to be a very big one, with around 120 sheep and 240 lambs gathering in formation to spell out the letters with a little coaxing from Kevin and his snacks.

The farmer has never attempted anything like this before, but revealed the clever coup was achieved first time.

He said: “I have a quad with a snacker so I just spread this for the lettering.

"Then the sheep all go to feed and with a bit of luck, it works out."

He added: "It took about a minute - we didn’t think it would work - but it came out not too bad, so we were both buzzing.”

And just to prove they weren’t pulling the wool over the eyes of the public, the proof was posted on social media - garnering more than 5,000 views.

It was all sunshine until the rainbow - a design which proved to be a bit trickier.

“Sam has a thermal imaging drone so I tried to do about five to six acres with feeding, but it was a warm day and they all just bunched up, but it was worth a try.”

Nevertheless, Kevin and Sam’s efforts not only raised the spirits of locals feeling the lockdown lull, they also sent this simple message to the NHS - “ewe’r the best!”