YOUNGSTERS in Peebles are a step closer to setting up a pizza takeaway after a positive verdict was delivered on a funding bid.

Tweeddale Youth Action submitted a request to the council’s Area Partnership for £2,237 to help set up a ‘Punk Pizza’ outlet.

The aim is to use the Central Baguette premises in the High Street to sell artisan pizzas during the day, as well as early evening during the summer months.

This project extends Tweeddale Youth Action’s existing Food Punks project, supporting young people’s employability through hospitality and catering training.

It is a charity (SCIO) which has been delivering youth work activities and support within Tweeddale for over 20 years.

Members of Tweeddale Area Partnership enthusiastically agreed the funding when they met on Tuesday, February 6.

Peebles Community Council representative Peter Maudsley praised the social enterprise’s record for supporting young people in the town.

He said: “It is vital for the support of youth in the town.

"We’re fully supportive of what they do.”

Peebles and District councillor Robin Tatler addressed concerns that the venture might be harmful to existing outlets in the town.

He said: “This isn’t a business. There’s a difference between a business and a social enterprise. This is a social enterprise.

"The money that they raise will go straight back into the organisation.”