AS staff at the Fife Ethylene Plant move on with their process of re-starting the facility after five months out of action with repairs to the boiler system at Mossmorran now completed flaring is expected to begin at the weekend.

Steam is an intricate part of the production process at the FEP and with the boilers now fully repaired, staff will begin to nudge the system back into full action.

Plant boss Jacob McAlister said on Wednesday: "As promised, we want to provide people with regular updates on the safe re-start of our production process.

"We have brought furnaces and boilers into operation, while containing the required flaring within the ground flare. We are now preparing for the start-up of our major process machines, so have requested an increased flow of gas from St Fergus."

He added: "This means we anticipate the need to begin using our elevated flare from Saturday, with the exact time based on the arrival of the required feed gas.

"Our team has taken a series of actions with the aim of reducing flare size and duration. We will keep the surrounding communities updated throughout but should anyone have any questions, please let us know".