The review group, which included representatives from the world of motor sport as well as police and the Health and Safety Executive, was set up by the Scottish Government following the deaths of three spectators at the Jim Clark Rally last May, and another accident at the Highland Snowman Rally in 2013 in which one spectator died and a child was injured.

Robert Reid, a former World Rally Champion is a group member and Sir Jackie Stewart is an advisor to the group.

Minister for Sport, Health Improvement and Mental Health, Jamie Hepburn, announced the recommendations to Parliament last Tuesday.

He said: “As we unveil the final recommendations of this review group, our thoughts are with the friends and family of the people who lost their lives in these two accidents.

“Rallying has a long and proud history in Scotland, but the tragic events at the 2014 Jim Clark Rally and 2013’s Highland Snowman event demonstrated that action had to be taken.

“There will always be an element of risk connected to motor sport, but Scotland must take the lead in ensuring that we live up to our history of world class input to the sport and have the best spectator safety controls in place.

“I believe that the Review Group has brought us a package of measures that will bring about a considerable improvement in spectator safety.

“I look forward to working with the governing body of the sport, the Motor Sports Association (MSA) to make these recommendations a reality.” Amongst the key recommendations are tighter controls over volunteer marshals, including a mandatory marshal licensing scheme, more input from Police Scotland, more ground rules for spectators, marshals and competitors on assisting cars back onto roads, and stricter control over marshall numbers.

Sir Jackie Stewart said: “In the history of motorsport for many years safety was seldom on the agenda internationally.

“However, more recently motorsport has been an excellent example of effective risk management, with the sport safer than ever.

“Risks remain, as was demonstrated all too tragically at last year’s Jim Clark Rally.

“The Scottish Government showed its leadership by initiating a review to look in particular at rallying. A committee was created, of which I was part, to look into how to remove as many of the downside risks in rallying for the sake of competitors, but more importantly spectators. This was essential after the tragedies at the Highland Snowman Rally in 2013 and the Jim Clark Rally in May 2014.” The three spectators who were killed during last year’s Jim Clark Rally - Iain Provan, 64, and Elizabeth Allan, 63, both of Barrhead, and John Leonard Stern, 71, of Bearsden - all had media accreditation for the event.And improving safety for the press is amongst the recommendations which were published this week.

In November Scottish Borders Council announced that they wouldn’t issue a licence for the 2015 Jim Clark Rally to take place.

In a joint statement with Police Scotland, the local authority said that they couldn’t support the event until an investigation into 2014’s tragedy had been completed.

But the decision received a backlash from organisers and local politicians.

Organisers of the Jim Clark Memorial Rally plan to still hold an event during the weekend of May 30/31. And they will publish full details within the next week or two.