Threatened Atlantic salmon will soon be able to reach ancient spawning grounds on a River Tweed tributary for the first time in decades.

Numbers of the fish have dropped drastically in recent decades.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) is now looking to open up previous breeding areas on the Halter burn by removing an agricultural weir.

Sepa’s Francis Hayes said: “Its removal will bring significant environmental benefits.”

The Halter burn, deep in the Cheviot hills, is reached by salmon and sea trout returning along the rivers Tweed, Till and then Bowmont water.

Environmentalists have not been able to establish the age of the weir, but believe it had been used for many decades to feed a now redundant lade and farm pond.

READ MORE: BBC