THE Scottish Borders has been ranked as the tenth deadliest county in the UK for its roads, according to a new study.

The figures, released by technology business Teletrac Navman, also show the A7 as the worst in the Scottish Borders

The data, based on analysis of fatalities gathered by the UK Department of Transport, highlights that, between 2012-2016, a total of 35 fatal traffic accidents occurred in the area.

Between 2012 and 2016, a total of 8,534 fatal traffic accidents were recorded across some of the busiest roads in the UK.

Scotland’s smallest county, Clackmannanshire, was named the safest area in the UK with no fatalities during the same four-year period.

Marjorie McCreadie, secretary from the A7 Action Group, expressed her shock at the findings.

She told the Border Telegraph: “I was unaware of this study, but I am shocked at this.

“The A7 Action Group has been active over the last 28 years. The group is working to make the A7 a safer route to travel through the Scottish Borders.

“This shocking statistic will now give the A7 Action Group more ammunition and allow us to apply more pressure on the Scottish Government to upgrade the road to a much safer standard.

“A few weeks ago we met with the then Transport Minister Humza Yousaf, who promised to visit the area – if not in the summer, but in the October recess.

“We have since written to Michael Matheson, the new Transport Minister, to seek an assurance that he will follow through with this promise.”

But Scottish Borders Council has poured scorn on the study.

A spokesperson said: “The data presented is fundamentally flawed as it uses fatality rate per population as the measure. It is therefore no surprise that many areas with large road networks, particularly those with a large rural network, and low populations are listed as the ‘deadliest’.

“Scottish Borders Council, as part of the Scottish Borders Road Safety Working Group, works to national accident reduction targets, based on the 2004-08 annual average as a base. In this respect progress is positive, with a continued trend of a reduction in the number of casualties and injuries.

“In the period 2012-2016 an average of 750million vehicle miles were estimated to have been driven on roads in the Scottish Borders.

“Sadly 40 lives were lost on local roads in that time, seven of which were on the A7.

“Three of the seven were on the trunk road section south of Galashiels, for which Transport Scotland is responsible.

“Proper analysis, using annual average daily traffic flow, identifies that the A7, through the Scottish Borders, is no more dangerous than other major routes in the area.”