DISRUPTION to patients will be kept to a minimum during work on a new roof at Borders General Hospital.

That is the pledge from NHS Borders, which is installing 188 solar panels at the premises near Melrose, Roxburghshire.

The switch to green energy is expected to produce 36,750 kilowatt hours of electricity every year, reducing power costs and carbon emissions.

The new panels are expected to produce electricity for up to 40 years.

NHS Borders has applied for planning permission to install the panels on the south and west flat roofs of the hospital near Melrose.