A HORRIFIED mum says her family felt forced to flee a Borders beauty spot after witnessing “vile” behaviour from foul-mouthed children.

The mother, from Penicuik, told this newspaper that she encountered the alarming scenes earlier this month while visiting the Meldons in Peeblesshire with friends.

The visitors say they were stunned to witness appalling behaviour from youngsters – as young as eight years old – who swore at them and tried to fight their children.

“They were actually coming over and swearing at us – the language was horrendous,” said the mother, who spoke to the Peeblesshire News on condition of anonymity.

She said: “Myself and a few of my friends decided to go for a wee picnic as the kids love going up there.

“Last year when we went up I had to get a black bag out of my car and tidy up the carnage left over by other people.

“On this occasion we found a spot close to the toilets. The kids were having a great time but there was a group of campers on the other side of the hill and their kids were vile.”

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The children were between eight and 12 years old, said the Penicuik mum.

She recalled her shock when the unruly youngsters approached her group “quite early in the morning” and unleashed a torrent of abuse, urging them to “f**k off from their campsite”.

“At one point they were trying to fight our kids and I just bawled at them, but it made no difference,” said the mum.

She also said the land was being used as a toilet.

“The kids went a walk up the hill and there was human excrement everywhere, along with dirty toilet paper – it was actually disgusting, just vile.”

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Acknowledging the limited facilities in rural areas, the mum said: “I actually brought Travel Johns for emergencies. Why can’t people do that?

“It’s bad enough getting dog poo on your feet, but human excrement? It just makes me really angry.

“My friend’s child also came walking over with bottles of beer that he found just left chilling in the burn.

“We decided to call it a day because they wouldn’t leave us alone – it was all getting too much.

“As we were leaving the kids were giving us the finger and one of them used the C-word at my friend. It was unbelievable.

“I hate to think of how they left the place. The parents must’ve heard their kids shouting abuse to us.

“They weren’t locals – I don’t think locals would do that to their own area.

“I’ve been going up there since I was a wee girl. You want your kids to have the same experience as you did.

“It’s a nice wee place for the kids to play in the burn, have a picnic, and go home.

“But on this occasion it was completely and utterly ruined. We had no choice but to leave.”

The mum says she also witnessed teenagers, thought to be from the same family of campers, destroying foam sofa beds and throwing the debris in the water.