A man breached a good behaviour order by being found in possession of heroin, Selkirk Sheriff Court has been told.

Daniel Thwaites was placed on deferred sentence for four months last October and told not to commit any offences after admitting having the class-A drug while being searched by police in Wilderhaugh, Galashiels.

However, procurator fiscal Graham Fraser said that the 27-year-old, of High Tweed Mill, King Street, Galashiels, had not behaved himself in the meantime and had admitted a similar offence of possessing heroin and breaching his bail in November.

Sheriff Peter Paterson imposed a fine of £250 for the original offence in October.

Commonwealth Games Scotland has announced the final 13 athletes from the sport of Rugby Sevens to be selected for next month’s 2018 Commonwealth Games, bringing the final Team Scotland line-up to 224.

Head coach John Dalziel, fornerly of Melrose, named an experienced 13-man Rugby Sevens squad – including several Borders players – to compete at Gold Coast 2018 as part of Team Scotland.

The squad will depart for Hong Kong next week to compete in the seventh leg of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series (April 6-8) before travelling to the Gold Coast to compete in the 21st instalment of the quadrennial multi-sport event.

The Scots will face Papua New Guinea, Malaysia and South Africa in Pool A at the Robina Stadium on April 14, from which the top-ranked team will advance to the semi-finals for a chance to take home a medal.

John Dalziel, said: “Selection has been very tough, given the talent and depth of players we have in Scotland. The challenge for this group will be how well we can come together over the next few days and weeks, to give ourselves the best opportunity to be competitive for Team Scotland at the Gold Coast Games.”

He added: “To represent Team Scotland in a Commonwealth Games is a huge honour for everyone involved and I’d like to thank Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh Rugby for their continued support, insuring we have assembled our country’s leading sevens exponents.

“It is great to welcome back some of Scotland’s leading talent, who have previously represented Scotland 7s and have developed into top 15-a-side players and combine them with our elite, core-sevens players, who have been competing on the World Series.”

The 13-man squad is made up of seven core Scotland 7s squad players – captain Scott Riddell, Jamie Farndale, James Fleming, Nyle Godsmark (Melrose), Gavin Lowe, Max McFarland and Joe Nayacavou – supplemented by two from Edinburgh Rugby players – Glenn Bryce and former Hawick ace Darcy Graham – and four representatives from Glasgow Warriors, Matt Fagerson, George Horne, Ruaridh Jackson and Lee Jones (Selkirk).

The squad features six players who have tasted World Rugby Sevens Series success, winning the London Cup in recent years, with five featuring in both 2016 and 2017 (Bryce, Riddell, Farndale and Fleming), while Horne and Nayacavou featured in the most recent triumph last year.

Captain Riddell – Scotland’s most capped sevens player in history – and Lee Jones are among the most experienced sevens exponents in the group and approach their third Commonwealth Games, having featured in both Delhi 2010 and Glasgow 2014.

Farndale has also enjoyed Commonwealth Games experience, captaining the side at the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games in the Isle of Man.

Experience permeates further down the squad with Fleming, Nayacavou and Farndale ranked fifth, seventh and ninth on Scotland 7s’ all-time appearance chart, Fleming – the team’s second-top try-scorer of all time – contributing 112 World Series tries to date.

Jackson and Jones also both bring experience of the 15-a-side set-up, with 32 and seven senior Test caps for their country respectively.

Like Riddell and Farndale, Gavin Lowe – this season’s Scotland 7s top point scorer – was part of the wider Team GB squad preparing for the Rio Games.

He is joined promising prospects Matt Fagerson and Darcy Graham, the latter making an instant impact on the opening tournaments of the season, scoring eight tries to be named in the Dubai 7s team of the tournament.

Both Fagerson and Graham were part of the Scotland U20 side that reached a record-equaling fifth place in last year’s World Rugby U20 championship.

Graham and fellow flier Max McFarland are currently Scotland 7s’ join top try-scorers this season, with 15 a-piece.

The squad is completed by Nyle Godsmark, whose selection for the Games sees him return to the site of his Scotland 7s debut on the Sevens World Series in 2014.

He went on to captain of the Scottish Thistles on the 2014 GB7s circuit, before becoming part of the Scotland 7s core squad and featuring in 60 on the World Series matches to date.

Congratulating the squad, Jon Doig, Team Scotland Chef de Mission said: “Congratulations to all those players selected, both new and returning. The Rugby Sevens team has contributed so much to support the wider ‘One Team Scotland’ ethos since first competing in 2002.

“They have had some great results in the World Series since the last Games in 2014 and with their competition on the last two days of the Games. We look forward to the whole team cheering them on, to help Team Scotland finish the Games on a real high.”

Scotland Rugby Sevens squad for the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Gold Coast: Glenn Bryce, Matt Fagerson, Jamie Farndale, James Fleming, Nyle Godsmark, Darcy Graham, George Horne, Ruaridh Jackson, Lee Jones, Gavin Lowe, Max McFarland, Joe Nayacavou, Scott Riddell.

Scotland Rugby Sevens fixtures, Robina Stadium, Pool ‘A’ – Saturday April 14: Scotland v Papua New Guinea (am), Scotland v Malaysia, South Africa v Scotland (both pm).

Classification, semi-finals and finals: Sunday, April 15.

The teams ranked third and fourth in each pool are eliminated from the competition. The second ranked teams from each pool advance to classification rounds to determine placings for fifth-eighth in the competition. The top ranked team from each pool advance to the semi-finals.

Last Saturday evening, Kelso Curling Club – founded back in 1790 – held its very first Invitational Bonspiel at the Border Ice Rink, Kelso.

In the true spirit of a bonspiel, which is renowned for being competitive but friendly, the competition was fierce but sociable.

Eight teams took part, with half the players being guests from other local curling clubs, many of whom had not met each other before.

In an added twist to the match, the players were asked not to display their scores so that nobody knew the results until the prizegiving ceremony.

Following the curling, everyone enjoyed dinner and drinks, and the prizes were awarded.

And an impressive range of prizes it was.

Kelso Curling Club has expressed thanks to its sponsor, Lilliard Gin, for helping to make the evening such a success.

Pictured are the winners, from left to right: Moira Walsh (lead), Peter Brewis (skip), Carolyn Newton (third) and Lesley

Cowe (second).

Hawick Harlequins celebrated a joyous double in the wet and miserable weather last weekend.

The squad clinched the BT East League Division One title after a nerve-shredding victory against Berwick.

And, with the game servbing as a BT National Shield double header, the Quins also ensured a semi-final place in that competition.

Saturday’s triumph at the Volunteer 3G park has opened the door to the national stage and a place next season in BT National League Division Three.

But the Quins are not sure yet if they’ll be able to step through it.

Club president Timmy Pretswell said they’d be having a series of discussions about whether the club had the resources and the finances to afford, realistically, a step up to the national scene.

Delighted as everyone was to have won the league, said Timmy, the Harlequins had a small squad, many of whom were farmers, and travelling early in the morning to away games might be difficult for some of them.

The whole question of travel was also a huge one for the Harlequins, as they would face trips to Orkney, Inverness and Aberdeen, among other places, which could place a big strain on finances.

However, said Timmy, no decision had been made yet and the matters would be talked over in due course.

On match day itself, only the length of a penalty goal separated the sides, with Adam Hall clinching a 22-19 victory with a late kick.

Hall had also converted two of Quins’ three tries. Two of these were scored by Sam Bandeen and the other by Ross Nichol.

“We did really well this season but it’s a long process – it hasn’t just happened overnight,” said Timmy, adding that five or six years of hard work had come to fruition.

The game itself was tense, and Timmy felt Berwick had played well while the Quins had occasionally struggled.

There was a sense of “trepidation” about the National League, which was the “real unknown”, he added.

This was the highest finish in the club’s history but it had been a nervous day on Saturday. “We’ve only lost once all season, away from home, but we were at home on Saturday. We were fairly confident, going into a home tie, but there’s always that fear,” said Timmy.

With the 2018 Randox Health Grand National just a month away, Selkirk trainer Stuart Coltherd has received a timely boost .

His Aintree hopeful, Captain Redbeard, stormed home to win the Caledonian Best Handicap at Ayr Races on Saturday.

Ridden by Stuart’s 19-year-old son Sam, the nine-year-old gelding led from start to finish.

He held off a strong challenge in the home straight by Elusive Theatre to win by three quarters of a length and collect the first prize of £10,657 , and the Craigie Cup, at odds of 11/2.

The victory was Captain Redbeard’s second of the season, following on from his triumph in the Tommy Whittle Chase at Haydock Park.

It was jockey Sam Coltherd’s 32nd career win.

“I was pleased by how well he ran,” said owner and trainer Stuart Coltherd after the race.

“This will definitely be his last outing before Aintree.”

Stuart added the race had been a perfect warm-up posibly for the Grand National, as the Captain’s traininghad been interrupted by the snow.

“We won’t officially know if he’s got a place in the Grand National field until after Cheltenham, but we’re hopeful he’ll be there on the Aintree starting line come April 14,” said Stuart.

Captain Redbeard is listed at number 59 in the Grand National ballot, with Kelso trainer Sandy Thomson’s horse, Seeyouatmidnight, included at number 36.

Background reports have been ordered on a man convicted of stalking two women over the course of a year.

Patrick McManus, 55, of Livingstone Place, Galashiels, had denied engaging in a course of conduct causing the women fear and alarm.

He was found guilty after trial, however, of shouting, spitting and laughing at them on various occasions in Livingstone Place and Gala Park between November 2015 and November 2016.

McManus is also due to be sentenced for failing to appear at Selkirk Sheriff Court on June 5 last year.

Sentence was deferred at the Selkirk court until April 9 for the production of a criminal justice social work report and restriction-of-liberty order assessment.

Consumers are throwing an estimated £49.5m down the drain each year by replacing household appliances and electrical goods without even checking their warranties.

According to a new study by MyVoucherCodes 32% of Scots diligently keep their proof of purchase for close to two years, but with almost no benefit, as 26% flash the cash to replace goods without even checking their warranties. In addition, a third have never made a warranty claim on a faulty or broken item.

The saying ‘buy cheap, buy twice’ might be accurate for the younger generation, with millennials spending over double the amount (£228) replacing household appliances than those aged over 55 (£108).

The research also reveals that an item would have to be under four months old for the younger generation to even consider returning it to the store if it was faulty or had stopped working.

However, it may come as no surprise that those aged over 55 would consider taking an item back to the store up to 11 months after the initial purchase.

Interestingly, the standard warranty period in the UK is two and a half years.

Almost half of women are guilty of not checking the status of a warranty when an appliance stops working, whilst men are quick to splurge, spending over double the amount (£239) of women (£152) when replacing items annually.

It seems Scots like to take care of their laundry, with washing machines topping the list of items they care most about when it comes to their warranty (44%).

Despite 30% of the Brits owning a coffee machine, they are listed among the goods that consumers are less inclined to retain their proof of purchase.

Top items Scots bother to learn the warranty status of:

Washing machines – 44%

TVs – 40%

Mobile phones – 39%

Vacum cleaners – 31%

Microwave – 27%

Chris Reilly, Managing Director of MyVoucherCodes said: “Checking your warranty can seem tedious, but it’s so important if you want to avoid spending money on unnecessary replacements or repairs.

“We recommend retaining your proof of purchase for a minimum of two years in a safe place, so you can easily review if required. However, if you do get caught out, be sure to search online to get the best deal.”

A 42-year-old man is to be sentenced next month after admitting carrying out a domestic assault at a house in Galashiels.

John Luke pleaded guilty to pinning his partner down on a bed, putting his hand across her mouth and pulling her by the hair from the bed, causing her to fall to the floor and hit her head, all to her injury.

That offence happened at the couple’s home in Laurel Grove, Galashiels, on November 14.

Sentence was deferred at Selkirk Sheriff Court for background reports.

A man has been remanded in custody at Selkirk Sheriff Court pending the preparation of background reports after admitting being involved in two disturbances.

Jordan Cunningham, 22, pleaded guilty to behaving in a threatening or abusive manner at a house in Balmoral Avenue, Galashiels, on January 2 by threatening to jump off a balcony and struggling violently with police officers.

He also admitted shouting and swearing and acting in an aggressive manner towards staff at Reivers Sports Bar in High Street, Galashiels, on February 9, as well as breaching bail conditions by being in the company of his partner after 7pm.

That condition had been imposed because Cunningham and his partner have got involved in trouble after drinking alcohol.

Sheriff Peter Paterson said he was prepared to consider an alternative to a prison sentence and called for a criminal justice social work report and restriction-of-liberty order assessment to be prepared before the case next calls on March 26 when.

However, he said the risk of Cunningham, formerly of Orchard Park in Kelso but now of no fixed address, re-offending in the meantime appeared to be high, so he refused bail.

St John’s Church’s Monday club in Selkirk is to hold a talk on the role dogs play in transforming the lives of disabled people next week.

The talk, by Susan Fulton, representing the West Sussex-based charity Canine Partners, is being held in St Joseph’s Church Hall in High Street and not, as stated in the printed edition of this week’s Southern Reporter, at St John’s Church in Viewfield Park.

We apologise for the error.

The talk, on Monday, March 19, starts at 2pm. Entry is £1.50, and all are welcome.

It’s now over four decades since a group of wayward youths broke into a quiet Galashiels cottage, earning themselves a footnote in Borders musical history.

In the 1970s, there was nothing unusual about housebreaking sadly, unemployment being high and there being little in the way of entertainment for the disenfranchised young.

This break-in was unusual, however.

Nothing was stolen, but these youths, in the eyes of some, were more dangerous to society than mere petty criminals as these were punk rockers, regarded by many as a threat to the old order, and they were here to record one of the most pivotal punk records of the 1970s, having travelled all the way up from Leeds to do so.

Their recording would become the first 7in release on the influential Edinburgh label Fast Product.

It was not only set to create a blueprint for the emerging post-punk genre but also to inspire a generation of misfit Scottish youths to believe they too, regardless of ability or class could become pop stars, albeit in their own unique way.

The Mekons, the unkempt bunch of Leeds University art students responsible for that single, Never Been in a Riot, being reissued next month, are now regarded as one of the most visionary groups of their era and would later combine punk with politics, country and folk.

The Fast Product label was later to gain international success by giving the world 1981’s Christmas No 1 single, Don’t You Want Me by the Human League.

In late 1977, though, that was all still a dream, and it was being dreamy up in the small Edinburgh flat from which impresarios Bob Last and Hilary Morrison ran their fledgling record label.

Reality arrived while they were assisting Edinburgh band the Rezillos during a tour of northern England.

Bob, inspired after Hilary had given him a self-financed Buzzcocks EP, was looking to find a suitable band to record their label’s first release.

He knew he had found them as soon as the Rezillos’ support act got on stage. They were the Mekons, named after an evil alien in the Eagle comic.

“I just thought ‘well, this is something that can cut through the crap’, to put it simply,” recalled Bob.

Singer Mark White said: “The Mekons’ unique selling point was that we couldn’t play, but we could haphazardly break down the barriers between audience and band because we were the audience.”

Playing despite not being able to play was one thing. Making a record, however, was another.

Drummer John Langford said: “It wasn’t like any of us had the faintest idea how to make a record, but Bob was quite confident and assertive so we kind of went along with his plans.”

Bob arranged a meeting with his manager at the Bank of Scotland and asked for £400 to record and release the single, and, much to his surprise, he got it.

All they needed now was a quiet place to record it.

The Rezillos’ then soundman, Tim Pearce, had an uncle who lived in the Borders, and that would be the perfect place to record a punk record, they all agreed.

Gathering a cheap two-track recorder, they then set off for Galashiels.

On arrival, to their horror, they discovered that Tim’s uncle was away for the weekend.

It was decided that their quickest and simplest solution would be to post Hilary through a small window so she could let everyone in.

Mark remembered: “It was effing cold. It was fairly intense and busy and done very quickly.”

On hearing the recording back, John was horrified.

“I thought it would magically sound like a real record once it reached vinyl form, but it just sounded like us banging around in a cottage in Scotland,” he said.

Bob, though, believed they had made a hit record.

Unfortunately, Rough Trade, then the most important distributor of all things punk, thought it was the worst recorded single it had heard and refused to stock it.

Without Rough Trade’s support, the single was destined to flop.

Salvation came from the New Musical Express, back then a weekly music bible for teenagers and a far cry from its current incarnation.

It declared Never Been in a Riot, backed up by 32 Weeks and also Heart and Soul, its single of the week’ – lofty praise indeed, changing everything for both band and label.

BBC Radio One disc jockey John Peel gave it his thumbs-up too, and soon after the band would sign to Virgin Records.

It was a decision they would come to regret, but that is another story.

After that inaugural release, Fast Product was inundated with tapes from hopeful young bands from around the world, releasing the first recordings by Gang of Four, Joy Division, Dead Kennedys and the Human League.

Today, the Mekons, currently based in the US, still tour and have released more than 30 records.

The act might not have sold very many of them, having failed to trouble the charts since their formation in 1977, but they have none the less influenced numerous bands, especially within the US alt-country movement, that went on to sell millions – and it all began with a break-in in Galashiels.

Never Been in a Riot – a satire of the Clash’s first single, White Riot, released in March 1977 – is being reissued next month, in limited-edition clear-vinyl format, to mark this year’s Record Store Day, being held on Saturday, April 21, as is the Mekons’ second single, Where were You?, in yellow vinyl. The nearest shops taking part in this year’s event, the 11th, are at the northern end of the Borders Railway line in Edinburgh, namely Assai Records, Coda Music, VoxBox Music and Underground Solu’shn. For details, go to recordstoreday.co.uk

Firefighters are tackling a blaze at the old Heather Mills site in Selkirk tonight, March 18.

Four fire engines have been called out to the Riverside Road site from Hawick, Galashiels and Selkirk itself to try to put out the flames, along with another appliance from Edinburgh.

Some 22 firefighters are in attendance using gear including hoses and a turntable ladder.

The fire was reported at 6.15pm, but its cause is not yet known.

The site, adjoining South Bridge Street, had been earmarked for housing following the closure of the old mill, with the loss of 31 jobs, at the beginning of 2009 by the Border Weaving Company, its owner since the year before.

Built in 1864 as Cheviot Mill, it was renamed Heather Mills in 1892, changing hands numerous times over the years and employing more than 200 staff at its height.

This weekend’s snow is forecast to give way to warmer weather from tomorrow, March 19.

Further light snow is forecast for tonight, and a Met Office yellow weather warning for ice remains in place until 10am tomorrow, but no more snow is expected this week.

Temperatures are expected to fall as low as -3C tomorrow and -1C the day after, but they are then predicted to rise as high as 8C by the end of the week.

This weekend’s snow, falling from Friday night onwards and pictured here by Curtis Welsh, was a far cry from the last widespread snowfall to hit the Borders, unleashed by the storm nicknamed the Beast From the East earlier this month, not settling to any depth of note or causing any disruption to traffic.

An investigation is now under way into what caused a blaze at the old Heather Mills site in Selkirk last night, March 18.

Four fire engines were called out to the Riverside Road site from Hawick, Galashiels and Selkirk itself to put out the flames, along with another appliance from Edinburgh.

Some 22 firefighters were in attendance using gear including hoses and a turntable ladder.

The fire was reported at 6.15pm and took almost five hours to bring under control.

The site, adjoining South Bridge Street, had been earmarked for housing following the closure of the old mill, with the loss of 31 jobs, at the beginning of 2009 by the Border Weaving Company, its owner since the year before.

Built in 1864 as Cheviot Mill, it was renamed Heather Mills in 1892, changing hands numerous times over the years and employing more than 200 staff at its height.

It was part of the Edinburgh Woolllen Group from 1980 to 2008.

The building has been left extensively damaged by last night’s fire and the roads outside are cordoned off today.

How the blaze started is not known yet.

Melrose was voted the best place to live in Scotland in yesterday’s Sunday Times newspaper.

The full reveal came in in the Sunday Times Best Places to Live guide, which was published on Sunday, March 18.

Click here to see the full piece.

The supplement assesses a wide range of factors, from jobs, schools and broadband speed to culture, community spirit and local shops, in order to compile the definitive top locations to live.

The methodology uses robust statistics, but also the knowledge of the newspaper’s expert panel. The judges said they combined the hard data with their own on-the-ground experience and insight to ensure the chosen locations truly are places where everyone can thrive.

Other towns which made the list include Wigtown, Orkney and the Black Isle, but Melrose came out on top.

Judges said: “It’s a country classic, with a beautiful setting in the Eildon hills, a dramatic ruined abbey and a handsome town centre of stone and pristine whitewash.

“For a town of just 1,700 people, there’s a huge selection of restaurants and shops, including a bakery spanning five generations, two great butchers, a fishmonger, a greengrocer, a deli and a wine shop.”

The award, however, comes as no real surprise to any who actually live there.

William Windram, the chair of the town’s community council, said he was delighted with the accolade.

He said: “Much of this is due to the hard work and dedication of the local shopkeepers, hoteliers and other traders who provide such fine facilities for both townsfolk and visitors.

“I would also pay tribute to the volunteers who work with Melrose in Bloom to keep the town looking so attractive.

“It is all too easy to take one’s surroundings for granted so to have independent objective persons from outside declaring that Melrose is such a fine place in which to live is particularly welcome”

We have put together 12 reasons why we think Melrose took pride of place in this instance.

Click on the gallery at the top of the page and tell us if you can think of more!

A Borders student is still missing despite a search for him having been under way for four days.

Duncan Sim, a first-year chemistry student at St Andrews University in Fife, was reported missing following a night out in the town last Wednesday, March 14.

The 19-year-old, from Duns, was last seen in the town’s Old Station Road at 11.15pm after socialising with friends at Madras College’s rugby club.

The teenager, a resident of the university’s Agnes Blackadder Hall, is described as white, 6ft tall and of medium build, with brown hair and green eyes.

He was wearing a grey-coloured suit jacket, white shirt and a blue and white tie.

Among the search parties deployed to track him down, in vain so far, was one organised by Duns Rugby Club, and helicopter crews have also been looking for him along the North Sea coast.

Sergeant Sharon Holmes, of Fife police, said: “We are growing increasingly concerned for Duncan’s welfare and are eager to trace him as soon as possible.

“I would urge anyone who may have seen Duncan, or a man matching his description, to contact us immediately.

“In addition, anyone with information that can help us trace his whereabouts is asked to get in touch with us as soon as possible.”

Anyone with information can contact St Andrews police station via 101, quoting incident number 2,987 of March 15.

Police are urging people to remain vigilant after a Kelso woman lost over £40,000 to fraud.

On Friday, March 9, a woman in her seventies received a call from a man claiming to be from her bank who said that there had been fraudulent activity on her account.

He told her to attend her local branch and transfer funds into other bank accounts, allegedly set up in her name, until this issue was resolved.

Over Friday and Saturday, March 9 and 10, the woman made a total of five bank transfers to five different accounts totalling over £40,000.

She was then called again on Monday, March 12 by the same man, who said that the fraud investigation had concluded and the money would be transferred back into her account that day.

The money was not returned and police have now launched an investigation into this after being they were contacted by a relative of the on Sunday.

Detective Sergeant Stevie Halls of Galashiels CID said: “These criminals are highly manipulative and can be very convincing. They prey on people’s fears and victims are pressured into ignoring their better judgement and providing money or personal information.

“If you receive an unexpected call claiming that you have been a victim of fraud or that you owe an organisation money, please just take a moment to verify this.

“Advise the caller that you will contact the company on your own terms and hang up immediately.

“Find a phone number from their official website or from a previous correspondence with them and always call the company on a different phone to that which you were called on.

“Anyone can fall victim to this, but please warn elderly or vulnerable friends or relatives in particular of this type of scam and what they should do in the event that they receive such a phone call.”

Those with any information about fraud can contact Police Scotland on 101, Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or make an anonymous report to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

A pair of pupils from Melrose Primary School proved how streetwise they are by winning a new award named in memory of a dog who helped promote road safety.

The school’s junior road safety officers Elliot Etherington and Kai Waddell won the inaugural competition, after the primary seven pair produced a video for parents and carers involving local community and police.

The Jon Chappell Memorial Shield was named after the three-legged springer spaniel, who accompanied owner Sheena Chappell to relay road safety messages to hundreds of school pupils across the Borders, after the dog lost his leg in a road accident.

Jon sadly passed away last year, which inspired ex-police officer Sheena to donate the Jon Chappell Memorial Shield to the school which came up with the most original road safety campaign.

Sheena said: “Taking Jon around the schools was a very good way of showing the children a visible consequence of inattention on our roads.

“It was fantastic. The kids loved Jon and Jon adored the kids. He had a wonderful life and he did so much for the children.”

Elliot said: “We all remember Jon coming to the school ... he was brilliant.

“We’re excited and shocked to get this award. We were asking Mr Wallace (depute headteacher) constantly if we had won it, but he kept it a secret.”

The video explained issues around parents and carers parking on zig-zag lines and near to junctions on Huntly Road, and encouraged them to use the designated drop off and pick up points at the health centre car park, Melrose Rugby Club car park or St Mary’s Road.

The school’s depute headteacher Jamie Wallace added: “As a school, we are very proud of our junior road safety officers and it is fantastic to see them leading the way in the community.”

Councillor Gordon Edgar, SBC’s executive member for roads and infrastructure, said: “Sheena and Jon played a vital role in educating our young people in road safety and this new award will mean their legacy continues for future generations. We will continue to encourage parents and carers to walk, cycle, scooter or park and stride to school with their children where possible.”

The council’s school travel co-ordinator Karen McGrath said: “Melrose is one of the schools that works well with the local police and the safer routes to school team.

“This award is about the children coming up with their own ideas that are important to their own school.”

Community police officer PC Callum Wilson, who appears in the video with the boys, said: “I was approached by the school to see if I could help them out.

“The boys made a really good job of it. They used their own initiative and put their points across very effectively.”

Borders MSP Rachael Hamilton is facing a bill of more than £50,000 for falling foul of pension laws.

The Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire MSP, also a hotelier, was originally fined £400 in February last year for breaching workplace pension legislation at the Buccleuch Arms at St Boswells.

She and husband Billy, co-owner of the hotel, were then charged an additional £2,500 a day for non-compliance with the law, a penalty eventually capped at £52,500 in May last year.

The 47-year-old, of Maxton, near St Boswells, is now being taken to court over that bill – in excess of 130 times the original fine and more than five-sixths of her basic MSP’s annual salary – by the Pensions Regulator but is contesting it and has lodged an appeal.

Mrs Hamilton, a Conservative list MSP for South Scotland from May 2016 until she won her current constituency seat at last June’s Holyrood election, claims the original breach of the law was down to a typographical error since rectified.

She also insists that she and Mr Hamilton, 45 this month, were unaware of the fine and escalating penalty notice until October last year due to correspondence being sent to the wrong email address.

Their company, trading as Borders Hotels, is now compliant with the 2008 Pensions Act requiring employers to enrol staff in a pension scheme and make contributions to it, they say.

A spokesman from the Pensions Regulator said: “We don’t routinely comment on individual cases.”

Mrs Hamilton, the Conservatives’ spokesman for tourism and small business at Holyrood, said: “All employees of Borders Hotels are fully enrolled in pension schemes and no contributions have been missed.

“The company employed to ensure the documents of compliance for auto-enrolment were correctly submitted made a typo on the reference number of one document.

“The deadline was therefore missed, but notification was sent to the wrong email address, so we were not informed.

“This is now going through the appeal process.

“As a locally-based family-run business, we will continue to invest in the pensions and training of all our employees.”

Calls for Mrs Hamilton to be sacked as a party spokesman over the slip-up have been dismissed by the Conservatives.

Ministers are being urged to make boosting the Borders’ tourist appeal one of the key tasks of the new enterprise agency being set up for the south of Scotland.

A consultation period on the remit and aims of the agency opened last Thursday, and Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire MSP Rachael Hamilton seized that opportunity to highlight the importance of attracting more visitors.

Mrs Hamilton, the Conservative Party’s spokesman for tourism and small business at Holyrood, said: “Tourism must be a focus of the south of Scotland economic enterprise agency.

“It makes a contribution to the region, and by not including it as a focus, it may be overlooked or not be able to fully capitalise on the opportunities the enterprise agency will bring.

“This is a great opportunity for the south of Scotland and the Scottish Borders, and we need to make sure we get this right. That means focusing on the key areas that drive our local economies.

“To focus on tourism in the south of Scotland can help improve low productivity, increase below-average business size and grow low wages.”

Scottish Government economy secretary Keith Brown assured her that tourism would be a priority for the agency, saying: “I recognise that it is crucial, which is why I talked about attracting visitors from far and wide and about how central tourism is to the south of Scotland.

“We are very seized of how important tourism is. Rachael Hamilton and I agree on that.”

An interim economic partnership has already been set up to pave the way for the new agency, and a £10m budget was agreed for it in the government’s latest spending plans.

Mr Brown told Holyrood: “The consultation will ask the people, businesses and the voluntary sector across the south of Scotland what would make this agency work for them.

“We have set out our overarching vision for the agency that drives inclusive growth across the area.

“We now want people to help shape the detail of the activity the agency can take forward to deliver those aims.

“This is a tremendous opportunity to transform the area’s economy, building on its significant strengths and traditions, and the launch of this consultation is a milestone moment for the future prosperity of the region.

“The south of Scotland is a beautiful area and has played a long and important part in the history of the Scottish economy.

“It nurtured Scotland’s textile industry, its agriculture and forestry sectors are thriving and it has a growing tourism industry.

“It has a diverse business base, many of which are small and family-owned.

“The economic seeds are all there and, with the right nurturing, can flourish.”

The consultation runs until Thursday, June 7.

Economic partnership chairman Russel Griggs added: “We are ambitious for the south of Scotland. The Scottish Government has made a positive commitment to the area, and today’s consultation launch takes us a step closer to the agency we need.

“We want to make sure that people across the South of Scotland take this opportunity to shape their future.

“Over the next few months, we will be out and about meeting communities and businesses to hear about what matters to them and what the new agency can do to support them.”

Go to consult.gov.scot/economic-policy-unit/new-enterprise-agency-for-the-south-of-scotland to have your say.