New Forth crossing workers branch out for park project

Employees leant a digger to the Friends of Pikes Pool in order to help them create new streams and move earth around their project in Kirkliston.

It is understood the workers were happy for the volunteers to borrow equipment they were not yet using as they prepare to begin work on the nearby Forth Replacement Crossing.

The deal represents the only help from the authorities which the team have received during their work at the park, which was previously overgrown and used for drug-dealing and fly-tipping.

In a short space of time the men have created waterfalls and flowerbeds, grassed over much of the park and attracted wildlife back to the area.

Founder Dean Schmid said: “It made a huge difference to what we were doing. Before we were just using spades and doing stuff manually, so that week allowed us to make a lot of progress.”