Accident halts work at water project site

WORK on a £5.5 million Easter Ross water project aimed at ensuring the security of supplies to 30,000 customers has been halted following an accident on site.

The Scottish Water project near Evanton involves construction of an eight-million litre capacity tank. It’s due to be completed early next year by Scottish Water alliance partner ESD, in partnership with contractor Coffey Construction.

Scottish Water this week confirmed that an incident — understood to have happened on August 24 – prompted work to be stopped pending a full probe.

A spokesman said: "An incident occurred at our site near Evanton when a member of our team working for Coffey Construction sustained a laceration to his finger. The injured person attended hospital and received stitches, before being discharged and returning to work.

"With our alliance partner ESD and their supply chain, we take all safety incidents seriously. Work on site has been stopped to make sure that the causes of this incident are properly understood and addressed before work resumes. A full investigation into the circumstances is underway."

The importance of the project was underlined last month by local MP Jamie Stone following a visit

He said: "The long period of dry weather this summer is a reminder that, even in the Highlands, water is a precious resource that we all rely on in countless ways.

"The work currently taking place will help to improve the security of water supply for Easter Ross in the event of any future issues at the water treatment works or disruption to the local water network."