A 20mph road scheme which has divided opinion has landed Scottish Borders Council a top national road safety award.

The jury is still out among Borderers on the trial 20 is Plenty initiative introduced at 97 settlements across the region in December 2021.

It was announced at the time that 20mph was to be the default speed limit across towns and villages in the Borders.

The council is currently carrying out public consultation over making the speed limits permanent, even though it has enraged some who say that 20mph zones should not be introduced where there is no proven benefit.

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Late last year it was even revealed that council officials had received death threats over the issue as part of a public survey.

Despite the controversy the local authority scheme has now been awarded the prestigious Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CHIT) Road Safety Award.

The award recognises ‘outstanding achievements which improve road safety through excellent practice, design and technical application’.

The trial was run in conjunction with Transport Scotland and Sustrans and with input from academics at Edinburgh Napier University, who carried out an independent evaluation from 125 survey sites.

They found that vehicle speeds had reduced in almost all locations, in some instances by three miles per hour, with an average reduction closer to 3mph.