PEEBLES and Innerleithen are set to lose their only traffic warden.

Instead both towns will be served by a pair of wardens dispatched from Galashiels - a 40 mile round-trip away.

The move comes after a voluntary redundancy application from the town's current traffic warden was accepted by police bosses.

And the position will not be refilled.

Instead from mid-March, Peebles and Innerleithen will be served by wardens from Galashiels, one full-time and one part-time.

In the new shake-up the two wardens will carry out routine patrols of the towns as well as carrying out their current duties in Gala and Melrose.

Police Inspector Mike Wynne can also deploy a traffic warden whenever one is required outside of routine patrols.

However he denies that Gala and Melrose residents will receive a poorer service despite two wardens having to now do the work of three.

He said: "At the moment there isn't much of a parking problem in either Melrose or Galashiels. I don't think either town will get a poorer service.

"Parking in Peebles is a concern for High Street traders though and we will strive to better enforce regulations in the town. Peebles will receive equal, even if not more attention than Galashiels.

"Police officers can also issue parking tickets if need be."

This is the fourth apparent cut to police services in the Tweeddale region since last January, when a division-wide restructuring resulted in the post of Peebles Police Inspector being scrapped after Stewart Sandilands left the role.

His duties which included overseeing the duties of the town's traffic warden were instead passed to Inspector Wynne, who took charge of the newly-formed Northern Policing Area encompassing Tweeddale, Galashiels, Tweedbank and Melrose.

The second and third cuts came following this reshuffle in the form of reduced counter hours in Peebles and the closure of Innerleithen and West Linton Police Station's.

Local councillor and Lothian and Borders Police board member Gavin Logan has slammed this recent move and believes that the arrangement will most definitely lead to a poorer service in each town.

He said: "This is a blatant cut to frontline services which has been sprung on the communities of Peebles and Innerleithen without any consultation. How many more losses to services can the people of Tweeddale suffer?

"Such an arrangement isn't going to fix anything, I can't see how Peebles and Innerleithen can be covered from Galashiels.

"All three towns will receive a poorer service as a result, Peebles and Innerleithen have lost their traffic warden while Gala will lose its own warden for various parts of the week.

"I have huge concerns about the level of service provided by this arrangement."

A police spokesman said: "Lothian and Borders Police can confirm that a voluntary redundancy application was accepted for the traffic warden post in Peebles.

"Last year, the division restructured the way it deploys resources to local communities and traffic warden provisions for Peebles are now handled by the North Community Policing Area (NCPA), which covers Galashiels, Melrose and Peebles.

"The local Inspector can authorise the deployment of a traffic warden whenever is required and regular attention to all areas within the NCPA will be provided.

"A recent parking initiative in Peebles over the festive period demonstrated the readiness of the force to dedicate resources to the area if and when they are needed."

Peebles community council chair David Pye has slammed the proposed new system as 'a retrograde step'.

He said: "Parking has long been a problem in Peebles and I can't see how regulations can be better enforced by not even having a dedicated traffic warden in the town.

"This is a retrograde step as without proper enforcement, parking regulations are worthless, the current system is designed to allow people to park and pop into High Street shops but traders have complained for a long time now about cars being parked all day.

"On such occasions are we to phone Inspector Wynne and request the use of a traffic warden from Gala?

"The fear is that people will be put off visiting the High Street due to a lack of parking and take their business to Penicuik, Straiton or Galashiels.

"We will making strong representations on this matter to Inspector Wynne."