Starbucks secures permission for controversial café in Kelso

Starbucks had appealed against Scottish Borders Council's earlier refusal of its plans

Coffee giant Starbucks has been given the go-ahead to open a second café in the Borders.

It already has an outlet in Galashiels and now plans to develop a derelict site on Station Road in Kelso.

Scottish Borders Council's (SBC) planning department had refused the proposal amid concerns it would harm the "vitality and viability" of the town centre.

The company appealed against that decision, and SBC's local review body has voted by three to two in favour of planning permission.

The proposals have divided opinion in the Borders town, which already has a large number of independent coffee shops.

However, the firm argued that it would "serve a different function" to other businesses and would not have a "direct, significant or adverse impact on other equivalent facilities".

The company said it would need up to 30 staff for the £1.5m development, which would include a drive-through.

As well as concerns over the impact on the town centre, planning officials also described the development as "an incongruous addition to the residential streetscape".

The local review body was asked to decide whether or not to overturn the council's original decision and let the development proceed.

Committee chairman Simon Mountford, said the company had done a "thorough search" for alternative sites.

The Kelso Conservative councillor, who voted in favour of the plans, added: "It is a site that has been vacant for around 30 years and it is an eyesore, and when the winter comes and the leaves fall off the trees the area of dereliction will become more apparent."

Reporting by local democracy journalist Paul Kelly.