REPAIRS to the Fife Ethylene Plant have been completed well ahead of schedule with limited flaring.

The project to repair a length of piping at the Mossmorran operation started on Thursday and the elevated flare stack was in use at times during the process.

But 24 hour working has seen the task completed well inside the five days expected.

Plant boss Jacob McAlister this morning: "Having worked round-the-clock, our team has now safely completed the essential maintenance

work - doing so in less than half the estimated time.

"The plant has now returned to routine operations and we are no longer using our elevated flare.

"While we hope the actions that we took to reduce the volume of flaring has minimised any potential concerns for local communities, we appreciate everyone's patience and understanding."