New currency planned for the Borders to help boost local business

A TOWN in the Borders is to launch its own currency to try to boost the local economy.

Hawick is renowned for knitwear but could now be better known as the first town in Scotland to have its own currency.

A pilot scheme for the "Hawick Pound" is being launched this month to try to encourage more people to shop locally.

There has been concern from traders because of the competition they face from larger retailers outside the town but the idea is that the local currency could only be spent in Hawick, so money would stay in the community.

Notes would be printed and sold to the public, who could use them in shops signed-up to the project.

If it goes ahead, Hawick will be the first town in Scotland to run a community currency.

There have been several new currencies introduced in England in recent years, including the Lewes pound in East Sussex and the Totnes pound in Devon.

The Findhorn community in Moray operates it own currency, called the "eco".