Free scooters offered to more than 1,000 schoolchildren

You might not get the chance to go to school on a hovercraft but would you fancy making the journey on a scooter?

More than 1,000 primary three pupils - aged between 6 and 8 - in more than 50 schools across the Scottish borders are being offered a scooter and helmet for free.

The scheme is being run by Scottish Borders Council (SBC) as part of the campaign to encourage people to swap short car journeys for active travel options.

Children in the town of Hawick were the first to get them last summer, and now there's enough money to roll out the offer across the whole local authority area.

The additional funding has come from Transport Scotland for the active travel campaign - which has been named RIDONKULOUS.

SBC's executive member for environment, sustainability and transport Jenny Linehan said the positive response in Hawick showed why it was important to make active travel "fun, accessible and practical for families".

"Expanding the initiative across the Scottish Borders is a great opportunity to build on that momentum, helping more children travel actively, safely and with confidence," she said.

The campaign promotes healthier, more sustainable ways to travel and encourages people to swap short car journeys for active travel options such as walking, wheeling, scooting, cycling and horse-riding where possible.