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Plans for a new whisky distillery in southern Scotland have secured a significant funding boost.

Dark Sky Spirits will receive more than £300,000 towards its project at Moffat in Dumfries and Galloway.

It is part of the latest round of funding being provided by the South of Scotland Enterprise Partnership (SOSEP).

Business Minister Jamie Hepburn said "targeted investments" could help the area reach its full economic potential.

SOSEP is the body set up to pave the way for the creation of a full enterprise agency for the Borders and Dumfries and Galloway.

Its latest funding package will also support social enterprises across Dumfries and Galloway and the Midsteeple Quarter project aiming to regenerate Dumfries town centre.

'Thriving economy'

"These three great projects will create new jobs, attract more visitors to the area, and make Dumfries and Galloway an even more attractive place to live," Mr Hepburn said.

Prof Russel Griggs, who chairs SOSEP, said the investments aimed to help "make the south the thriving economy we know it can be".

Dark Sky Spirits is an "artisan blender of malt whisky", with its sole blend, The Moffat, currently created and bottled off-site.

The funding will assist with the costs of constructing and fitting-out a distillery and bonded warehouse in Moffat to reduce bottling and transportation costs and commence blending.