FORMER Scottish Borders Council leader Drew Tulley revealed he was “disgusted” by the apparent lack of remorse shown by the four councillors who represent Galashiels on the local authority after it lost £2.4million of taxpayers’ money on plans for a new waste plant in Langlee which have since been binned.

He questioned why neither Bill White, Sandy Aitchison, the absent Bill Herd or John Mitchell - the deputy leader with responsibility for finance - had failed to mention the financial fiasco in their monthly reports to Galashiels Community Council last week.

And now the former independent councillor, who pointed out he was forced to resign his position as leader following a £3.9million overspend in the education budget 13 years ago, has backed calls for a full independent inquiry to find out who is to blame.

Mr Tulley said: “I’m disgusted. I came along to hear about the writing off of £2 million at Langlee and not a word has been said.” Councillor White revealed he was keeping tight-lipped because he had already been grilled on the subject at a meeting of Langlee Residents Association the night before.

And Councillor Mitchell claimed they were restricted in what they could say because of commercial confidentiality clauses.

“It was a decision that was taken cross party at the start and we have done our best. It could have been very advantageous for the Borders but it has fallen through.” But he added: “We will strive to do our best to get a resolution.” Mr Tulley urged Galashiels Community Council to write to Audit Scotland - the authority responsible for ensuring public sector bodies in Scotland make effective use of public funds - to invite them to investigate Scottish Borders Council.

He pointed out the local authority was way behind with its recycling targets, with the landfill site at Langlee nearing capacity, and questioned what other plans were in place to improve its waste disposal and how much will they cost.

The meeting heard Scottish Borders Council had previously mooted flying the region’s waste by plane to Holland.

Councillor Aitchison said: “My understanding of this is the technology will work eventually but pushing the boundaries of technology was always a risky thing to do.

“The decision has been taken to try to find ourselves an alternative path, otherwise we could face serious financial liability if we don’t meet that (landfill) target.” Nevertheless, he added: “We’ve been let down. It’s not a position any of us want to be in.”