The operation to overhaul the Braidwood Motor Company Stadium pitch is now well underway, as our exclusive pictures show.

Following the weekend's Amateur and Junior Cup finals, work began to remove the top few inches of the playing surface on Monday, the first stage of a renewal programme which will be fully completed in time for the new season.

Contractors have removed tons of grass and soil from the pitch and over the course of the next few days, what remains will be top dressed and re-levelled in preparation for re-seeding.

Stadium groundsman Stuart Speirs confirmed that it was so far so good in his efforts to restore the pitch to its former glory.

He said: "There's a bit more to come off the top of the pitch but it's going well.

"Once that's done we'll apply tons of sand, work it in and then have the whole surface levelled by a laser guided machine.

"That should all happen quite quickly - I'm hoping to have the pitch seeded then covered over to allow the seed to germinate by the end of the week."

Keep checking back for progress as the work continues...