CHANGES to parking charges in Peebles have led to a surge in takings for the local authority.

But surprised officials have yet to make plans for spending the cash.

Local councillors agreed in 2015 to scrap the free for the first either two- or four-hours in Edinburgh Road (Saturdays only), Greenside and the Swimming Poll car parks.

And it had an immediate effect with region-wide gross revenue jumping from £91,144 the previous year to £109,110.

And for 2016/17 the coin takings jumped again to £133,594.

Tweeddale councillor Stuart Bell told us: "The changes to charging in Peebles were made after a lot of consideration - it was mainly to encourage commuters to use Edinburgh Road through the week and prevent people leaving their cars all day in the other car parks.

"It wasn't a money-making exercise and we expected, if anything, that the income would go down."

Scottish Borders Council policy indicates that all pay-parking net revenue raised should be spent on projects within the town where it was raised.

The local authority operates charging in 15 car parks across the region - three in Peebles, six in Galashiels, five in Hawick and one in Melrose.

Although individual breakdowns weren't available at time of going to press, none of the other 12 car parks outwith Peebles have changed their charging policies since 2011.

The introduction of free weekday parking on Edinburgh Road and free for the first two hours in Edinburgh Road on Saturdays and four hours at Greenside and the Swimming Pool car parks (Monday to Saturday) in 2014 led to a region-wide drop in income from £116,659 to the 2014/15 figure of £91,144.

And it can be deduced that much of the upsurge in income over the past two years has come from the 2015 changes in Peebles.

Councillor Bell added: "The income has to pay for enforcement so it will be interesting to see what the net figures are once this has been deducted.

"As we didn't expect to have much in the way of additional revenue we haven't made any plans to spend the money in Peebles.

"This is something that can now be looked at."

The latest changes, which were introduced to Peebles car parks in August 2015, took away the first two hours free at Edinburgh Road on Saturdays, and the first four hours free at both the Swimming Pool and Greenside car parks.