A Midlothian chippy has been praised for their generosity after giving free meals to elderly locals who have been self-isolating during the outbreak.
Residents of Crystalmount Sheltered Housing in Dalkeith were surprised by the free of charge treat from nearby Franco's Fish and Chips and Pizza.
The residents, the majority of whom are over 70, typically have a chip supper once a month but this had been put on hold as they were confined to their flats following the pandemic.
However, in a bid to raise morale, committee chairman of Crystalmount, Ronald Dymond, decided to go ahead with the treat last Friday - but didn't expect what would happen next.
When it came time to collect the order at Franco's, the restaurant refused payment for the meals for over thirty households and have since been praised by locals for their generosity.
Isabel Mulligan, 86, has lived at Crystalmount with her husband for over five years and said they were touched by the kind gesture.
Like millions of elderly people across the country, Mrs Mulligan, who suffers from a range of underlying health conditions, can't venture further than their communal garden and has been in self-isolation for over a month.
"This is my seventh week not going anywhere because of the ailments I've got. I do walks around the garden twice and walk up the stairs and that's my exercise.
"I've had no family or friends in the flat for seven weeks. Touch wood but no one has had the virus in our housing yet", she said.
Speaking of Francos' act of kindness, she said: "It was super, it really cheered us up.
"I know it would have been around £6.50 for my meal and everybody here, apart from about four people, ordered meals.
"It came down hot and they had even marked the room numbers on the packets so everybody got what they ordered.
"We would usually have it downstairs in the communal area with each other but we had it separately in our flat.
"This isn't the first time Franco's have done something like this. They did it a few years ago when a grandparent in their [Francos' owners] family had passed away."
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