Police clampdown on illegal parking in Peebles

Earlier this month, police descended on the High Street to issue the £40 tickets, totalling £2,210, against the dozens of drivers who overstayed their 45 minutes of parking.

Speaking at the recent meeting of Peebles Community Council, Tweeddale West councillor Kris Chapman (Lib Dem) said: "I'm frustrated that people are blatantly ignoring parking legislation in the town.

"We are spending police resources and police to ticket cars when they could be prioritising criminal activity. I hope this sends a strong message to drivers across the town.

He added: "Another place which has been causing parking issues is outside of Fat Face as you turn into the Northgate. I've heard that cars have regularly parked on the double yellow lines diagonally on the road, against the build out which is located outside of the store.

"I've since raised this with council officials who will visit the site to look at possible solutions."

Reacting to the details of the police clampdown, Tweeddale East councillor Shona Haslam (Cons) told the Peeblesshire News: "This is great news. Parking is a key issue for residents in Peebles and police have heard and are responding to that feedback.

"But of course we also have to balance that with ensuring that the police and resources are there to keep our communities safe and work with our local schools. I am pleased that this is moving forward."

The news comes weeks after SBC announced they are to re-establish a group in the next three months to address the issue of illegal parking across Border towns, first set up in the summer of 2014.

The council working group was wound up last November after councillors voted 19-11 to reject its recommendation for the creation of an SBC-run decriminalised parking enforcement (DPE) scheme.

Last year, it was concluded that such a scheme, costing £220,000 to implement and £20,000 a year to run, was "unrealistic", the council agreed that enforcement should be left to Police Scotland.