Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Crisis funding for Moray storm clear-up

Delfur crossing near Boat O’ Brig
Delfur crossing near Boat O’ Brig

Crisis funding from the Scottish Government has been activated for Moray as the region battles to recover from damage caused by torrential rain.

Deluges south of Fochabers in recent days have caused mud and rubble to plunge across roads, leaving them impassable to motorists.

Yesterday, council staff tried to shore up a bridge in the area amid concerns that, if it also has to be shut, it would cut off access to about 16 properties.

Inspections of the Delfur crossing near Boat O’ Brig, following the heavy rain, revealed significantly more erosion since it was previously checked in September last year with masonry blocks becoming dislodged.

Sandbags have been placed at the foot of the bridge to strengthen it and temporary traffic lights have been installed to get drivers to slow down.

Council staff will visit the crossing again this morning and in the evening, in the midst of forecasts for more rain, to ensure the water level has not increased and the make-shift defences have remained in place.

The Speyside Way was also closed, about two miles south of Fochabers yesterday, following a landslip that has caused the bank to become unstable.

Meanwhile, the Scottish Government has granted the authority access to funding from the Bellwin scheme to cover the cost of repairs.


>> Keep up to date with the latest news with The P&J newsletter


The move comes amid concerns that the clear-up bill will stretch to more than the £428,000 the council has to cover, with Holyrood picking up the rest of the tab.

Council leader Graham Leadbitter said: “We don’t know how much the work will cost, but the fact the funding has been activated helps staff plan their response financially to emergency incidents like this.

“There may still be consequences the council is unaware of at this stage, so this gives a degree of comfort in coordinating the response.”

Warnings have already been issued that the Cairnty Road, near Mulben, could be shut until the end of the month after the landslip left the carriageway undermined.

However, it is hoped that the Ordiequish Road, near Inchberry, will be open next week.

Moray MSP Richard Lochhead praised the response from council staff as well as emergency services and volunteers to the extreme weather.

He added: “The heavy rain has made it a challenging few days with flash flooding causing disruption and damage to local infrastructure.”

A Moray Council spokeswoman said: “The Bellwin scheme specifies what can and can’t be claimed, at this point we are not in a position to say the extent of the claim and the specifics of what it will cover.”