BORDERS MSP Rachael Hamilton (Cons) has hit back at calls for her to be sacked after breaching laws on workplace pensions at the hotel she owns.

The member for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire had originally faced a £400 penalty, but this rocketed to £52,500 due to non-payments over the past year.

Officials imposed the fine while she was fighting the 2017 by-election that saw her elected to Holyrood.

The offence was committed at the four star Buccleuch Arms in St Boswells, which she owns with her husband Billy – trading as Borders Hotels Ltd.

But the MSP, who has a 49 per cent stake in the hotel, says she was not aware she had broken any rules until October due to a typographical error.

The couple are now appealing the fine. She 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.”

Under the Pensions Act 2008 every employer in the UK must put staff into a pension scheme and contribute towards it.

The Pensions Regulator made at least a dozen requests to the company asking it to explain its workplace pensions arrangements. The couple finally responded to the requests and are compliant with the law. 

The Buccleuch Arms hotel currently employs 33 workers, according to the firm’s statement to Companies House.

Last week MSPs have called for Tory leader Ruth Davidson to sack Ms Hamilton.

Among those was the SNP’s Christina McKelvie (member for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse), who said: “Of course Ruth Davidson must sack Rachel Hamilton.

“Even if she pays her £52,500 now, in light of negative publicity, the facts stand for themselves: her own behaviour, which is in breach of the law shows the contempt in which she holds the law and her hardworking staff.

“Workers in Scotland deserve better treatment than this.”