Work will soon get underway to drill a number of additional boreholes in Ravenscraig as part of the planning conditions issued by North Lanarkshire Council in 2013.

The £650,000 project, managed by Ravenscraig Limited, the joint venture developers of the 1,200 acre site near Motherwell, will see up to 17 new deep groundwater boreholes drilled to allow continued monitoring of water quality beneath the site.

Hydracrat Ltd has been appointed to carry out the work, which will start on site early May and is expected to take 20 weeks to complete.

Nick Davies, director of Ravenscraig Ltd, said: “There are already 28 boreholes on the site, the latest of which were drilled in 2011. These are used to monitor the quality of deep groundwater, which is approximately 100 metres below the surface of the site. Little change has been noted in the past 20 years.

“We have been planning the new works for a number of years and expect there to be minimal disruption for the local community.”

Ravenscraig is one of Europe’s biggest regeneration projects. The site, a key part of Scotland’s industrial heritage has seen investment of over £200m in recent years, including hundreds of homes, the state-of-the-art New Lanarkshire College campus and major regional sports facility. Recently Martsons, owner of the popular Raven’s Cliff pub, announced plans to build a 40-bedroom hotel.