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Council approves plan to modernise Kelso Racecourse

Getty Images The main stand at Kelso racecourse with big crowds outside and a Scotland flag flyingGetty Images
Changes to the weighing room at Kelso need to be made before the end of 2027

Plans have been approved for the overhaul of a Scottish racecourse to meet new British Horseracing Authority (BHA) guidelines.

Scottish Borders Council (SBC) has given the green light for the provision of new jockeys' weighing room facilities and event space at Kelso Racecourse.

It will relocate the existing jockeys' facilities from the grandstand to a purpose-built building next to the parade ring while "retaining and enhancing" some catering provision.

The racecourse has been given until the end of 2027 to complete the upgrades needed to comply with BHA requirements.

Kelso is one of five racecourses in Scotland and is one of the foremost jump tracks in Britain.

It stages about 15 fixtures each season including Morebattle Hurdle Day, which features Scotland's most valuable hurdle race.

The course attracts about 35,000 visitors a year.

The new weighing room would meet requirements to "ensure appropriate safeguarding for participants and equal access to facilities for jockeys of all genders".

"This is not an intensification of use but modernisation of the facilities to meet with licensing requirements," concluded a council report in giving the plans the all clear.