Actor Jack Lowden joins Borders nursery battle

Actor Jack Lowden has urged a council not to close the nursery in the village where he grew up.

The Slow Horses star went to Channelkirk Nursery in Oxton in the Borders which is under threat of being mothballed.

Lowden posted on Instagram that he hoped the local authority could find a way of keeping it open - along with others being proposed to shut this summer.

The council has blamed falling child numbers for the move and says alternative provision is available within an "acceptable distance".

A council report said a facility in Fountainhall had been shut this school year and it is proposed to remain mothballed.

A further six - Channelkirk in Oxton, Cockburnspath, Ednam in Kelso, Walkerburn, Westruther and Yetholm - are being recommended to be mothballed for 2025/26 due to falling numbers.

The local authority said there would be consultation carried out before any final decision was made.

It prompted Lowden to post on Instagram - along with a childhood photo in a Channelkirk uniform - that he hoped the council would not go ahead with the move.

"Hearing that Scottish Borders Council have been closing rural nurseries across the area, with many more slated for closure or 'mothballing'," he wrote.

"Specifically in my old stomping ground of Channelkirk."

The actor said he was aware that the Borders was not the only area affected.

"This is apparently happening all across the country in rural areas," he added.

"These nurseries are a vital life line for many families.

"Money's tight across the board of course, but these decisions seem counter-intuitive to attracting people and businesses to our areas."

He added that he hoped the local authority would not take the plans forward.

"Hope Scottish Borders Council can find a way of keeping these nurseries open and help the bairns and families of oor hame to thrive," he wrote.

The report on the situation will go to the council's executive committee next week.

No final decision on their fate will be taken until after a "short period of consultation" to allow everyone affected to "have a say".

The council said the cost of running the sites was 2.7 times higher than the average cost of other local authority provision.

It has estimated it could save about £400,000 in staffing costs by the mothballing plan.