NETWORK rail and Scottish Borders Council have been urged to work together to find a solution to the issue of flooding in an underpass in Heriot.

 Local MSP Christine Grahame said she wants to to ensure that the underpass just off the A7 below the Borders railway is gritted during the winter months.

 She said: “I think there is a duty on Network Rail and Scottish Borders Council to deal with these issues sooner than later.

 “The underpass at Heriot was again flooded last week and something must be done before the freezing weather kicks in. It will be a real hazard and could potentially be extremely dangerous with the risk of slip injuries.

 “I understand the council has suggested that in winter a salt bin will be provided, which I’m afraid is completely inadequate. Will there also be a DIY pumping system for the many occasions the underpass floods?

 The Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale representative added:“The community at Heriot had to deal with a great deal of disruption during the construction of the railway and yet it appears to me that they are now being left to their own devices.

“I am continuing to press Network Rail and the council to come up with a solution to this matter before someone is seriously injured.”

John Williams from Heriot Community Council feels that local residents have been left to shoulder the burden when it comes to maintenance and upkeep of the underpass. Speaking to the Border Telegraph, he said: "Scottish Borders Council are saying they will not be responsible for winter maintenance in the underpass. They want Heriot Community to do this.

 "They have put a couple of salt bins there, and they are offering us shovels, and they are saying 'you guys look after it.' We are saying this is just ridiculous, you cannot expect a bunch of people -most of whom are retired or in their 70s- to turn out every time there is frost or snow, and keep the underpass in the state it should be in.

 "I have mentioned this to one or two people in the Transport area, particularly in Transport Scotland and they say they are pretty horrified, because they say they don't think this happens anywhere else in Scotland.

 "Where you have got a piece of infrastructure like this, it is expected that the local authority maintains it."

A Network Rail spokesman responded by saying: “The underpass at Heriot sits below the local water table and, as part of the design, specialist pumps have been installed to help drain water from the footway during periods of bad weather. Due to essential maintenance works last week the power to the pumps had been temporarily switched off resulting in a build up of water. The pumps are back in operation and we have also deployed a maintenance team to clean the underpass following last week's flooding.”

When contacted by the Border Telegraph on the matter, a Scottish Borders Council spokesperson said: “The Council provides a winter service across its adopted road and footway networks based on approved priority levels. The level of winter service provided at Heriot is the same as that provided to similar communities across the Scottish Borders area.

“It has been confirmed to the Heriot community that the Council will not provide a primary level of treatment to the underpass and that a secondary level of treatment is applied. SBC currently provides over 1,000 salt bins across the region in areas where it does not provide primary treatment. The additional salt bin provision at the underpass will now increase the total number of salt bins in Heriot to four.

“These additional salt bins will provide a further self-help facility for the community during winter weather when the Council’s resources are being deployed in higher priority areas.”