Scottish Borders road decline 'worst' among rural areas

The condition of roads in the Scottish Borders is deteriorating faster than in other rural areas, according to a study.

Research compared the area's road condition ranking with seven other rural local authorities in Scotland.

Roads in the Borders were found to have the greatest decline of any of them between 2013 and this year.

The study was commissioned as part of a review of the state of the A72 in the region.

Councillors had asked for a report on the condition of the A72 with relevant statistics on accident rates and traffic flow.

However, part of the paper for the Tweeddale area forum also looked at other council areas for comparison purposes.

It highlighted the Road Condition Index (RCI) which rates routes as red (poor condition), amber (in need of investigation) or green (good condition).

The red and amber figures are then converted to a percentage of the overall road network to provide a rating.

That figure has risen to 45.5% in the Scottish Borders since 2013 - an increase of 3.8% which is the biggest leap of the eight rural authorities examined.

In terms of the A72, the report found that the percentage of the route in a red condition was slightly below the regional average but it was 1.5% above the average for the amber rating.

The sections of road in need of most attention were between Blyth Bridge and Wester Happrew, at Four Mile Bridge, Edston Quarry, Peebles High Street, Walkerburn, and Clovenfords.

What is your experience of road conditions in the Scottish Borders? Have they worsened in the last few years and is the A72 of particular concern? Email your thoughts to selkirk.news@bbc.co.uk.