ROAD workers struggled to repaint the yellow lines on a Peeblesshire street because of illegal parking, a meeting has heard.

At the most recent meeting of Innerleithen Community Council, members discussed the work being done on Waverley Road.

And it was suggested that the road workers’ task was hampered by illegally parked vehicles.

Community councillor Jackie Couchman said: “When they [council employees] were out actively lining they were chapping on doors to try and establish who vehicles belong to.

“My comment was that it wouldn’t have happened in London, they would’ve been lifted.

“The guys were trying their best but it was wasting an awful lot of their potentially productive time so I don’t think the lines have been completed.”

Scottish Borders Council member Robin Tatler, who represents Tweeddale East, said illegal parking has become an “intractable problem”, and added that he has asked both the Community Action Team and community police officers to be vigilant in catching offenders.

He said: “There are, as you say, people that park there all the time.

“I am going to ask the roads team whether it would be worthwhile putting up some notices to remind people that they shouldn’t be there for more than 10 minutes at a time.”

The meeting heard that several motorists are “persistently” parking along this stretch of road.

Mrs Couchman said: “Some of it is habitual parking but there are never any tickets issued – people don’t feel they are going to be prosecuted.

“I say, take the yellow lines away or enforce them because there is no point in them being there with signs saying when you can and can’t park if there’s no demonstrable enforcement.”

Mr Tatler, an independent councillor, said he would speak to the Community Action Team about issuing parking fines to motorists illegally parked.

Meanwhile, as part of the new 20mph limit, electronic speed signs have been erected in the town.

Mrs Couchman flagged up a potential problem. 

“Bearing in mind that we’ve been asking for speed signs and we’ve been told we can have one and that if we wanted another one we would have to raise £5,000 for it, then the poles seem to have gone up almost with undue haste.

“A resident raised with me the one that’s been put at the entrance to Kirklands, where the sightlines are poor, and where the pole is, [it] may actually have made the sightlines for getting out of Kirklands worse.

“I know the individual concerned has been in touch with the council but I don’t know how carefully they assessed the actual positioning of the poles.

“It’s probably fait au accompli and it’ll probably be fine but bearing in mind how exacting they are over certain things, it just seemed to be done very arbitrarily.”

In response, Mr Tatler said: “It is the roads department that does it so you would hope that they would take account of these things but if it is a problem let us know.”