TORY MSP John Lamont has been accused of "peddling a fallacy" after he claimed the Scottish Government was guilty of mismanaging the Borders Railway Project to reinstate train services to the region after a gap of 45 years.

Mr Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire said in a radio interview that if the rail scheme was delayed again the public would be concerned over further increases in the cost of the project.

He warned that the SNP Government's handling of the crucial proposals threatened to be a repeat of the Edinburgh trams debacle, and claimed many local residents would prefer to see the money spent on other forms of transport..

Christine Grahame, SNP MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale & Lauderdale, has attacked Mr Lamont's 'inaccurate and ill-informed' criticisms of the Scottish Government's role in the delivery of the rail route linking Edinburgh and Tweedbank.

She said: "I must point out that John Lamont is peddling the fallacy that the SNP Government is funding the line. I would remind him that the bulk of the costs will be met by Network Rail which means the cash would not be available to fund road improvements or better local bus services. It should also be noted that Transport Scotland is in charge of the project."

She reminded Mr Lamont that attempting to place Borders Rail in the same bracket as the Edinburgh trams fiasco was a reckless assertion to make when it was the Tories who firmly backed the trams project while the SNP opposed it.

She added: "We need no lessons from Mr Lamont or his Conservative colleagues when it comes to financial prudence. He should be supporting this crucial infrastructure investment which will be important for the economic well-being of the Scottish Borders".