Stranraer harbour safety breach work planned

A temporary vehicle gate will be put in to improve safety in the harbour area

A first phase of work to tackle health and safety breaches at Stranraer harbour will begin later this month.

It comes after inspectors raised concerns about the interaction between pedestrians, traffic and business operations in the area.

Work will include marking safe routes and hazardous places to be avoided.

A temporary vehicle gate will also be installed to ensure only authorised traffic is permitted to enter the working harbour area.

The work will begin on 10 September and once completed the working harbour area will only be accessible by authorised users who have signed up to the council's terms and conditions for harbour use.

They will be provided with the security code for the lock on the temporary gate.

'Important hub'

A wider scheme of measures addressing issues on the harbour, promenade and surrounding area will be designed and implemented in the coming months.

Katie Hagman, who chairs the council's harbour committee, said it was an "important hub of activity both for and within the local community".

"For this reason, it is essential that we not only comply with the health and safety executives findings, but also that we carry out essential work to ensure the safety of all our harbour users," she said.

"This includes members of the public as well as those working within the harbour and voluntary groups."