A MOTORIST has been accused of causing the death of a Peebles cyclist by careless driving following a road accident in the Borders.

Carl Lane, who was a retired RAF flight lieutenant and president of Peebles Cycling Club, sustained serious spinal injuries after the collision with a Volvo XC90 on the A72 road near Peebles.

He died at the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow six months later.

William Stewart, 54, of Mathieson Street, Innerleithen, appeared yesterday at Selkirk Sheriff Court charged with causing death by careless driving, in that he failed to see Mr Lane cycling on the roadway and collided with him.

He pleaded not guilty to the offence which is alleged to have happened at Eshiels on October 27, 2014.

A trial date was set for September 13 with an intermediate hearing on August 15.