COUNCIL bosses have been slammed after the removal of grit bins from the region's most ice affected areas.

As winter gripped Peeblesshire this week residents of remote and rural communities in Tweedsmuir, Carlops and Broughton were stunned to find council workmen taking away their grit supplies on Tuesday.

And in an embarrassing climb down the local authority have now been forced to take at least one back.

The baffling move completely flies in the face of the council's own declared promise to support the Scottish Goverment's winter resilience plans.

Local councillor Willie Archibald said: "It really is incomprehensible as these communities which are the highest villages in the Borders suffer greatly in the winter months.

"The locals never complain though and just get on with it, gritting their own footpaths and pavements, so for the council to come and take their grit bins away in this the first week of bad weather is laughable.

"It's an outrage." Bins at the railway bridge in Broughton, Macbiehill in West Linton and Kitley Knowe in Carlops were all lifted.

Upper Tweed Community Council secretary Sally Walker immediately complained. She said: "Rural communities like ours need all the support we can get.

"The council do a great job in difficult circumstances to keep the roads gritted but taking these bins away is the wrong decision. As a community we use them a lot during icy conditions so without them accidents will occur.

"Fortunately they admitted their mistake at the railway bridge and will return it." A spokesman for Scottish Borders Council explained: "The Council provides, services and maintains 830 salt bins across the region. This level of service was recommended as part of the Review of the Winter Service Plan 2011/12 Report and was approved at the Council's Executive meeting on October 18.

"To ensure that salt bin provision is located in the areas of most need, a risk based assessment is currently being completed to rate all current salt bin locations.

"The main reasons for the removal of a bin are that it hasn't met the evaluation criteria, or it is already on a primary salting route, or it is on an unadopted road.

"After discussions with Upper Tweed Community Council, we are now re-instating the bin at the Railway Bridge." This stance has been slammed by Councillor Archibald, who added: "This is an utter disgrace, leave these bins where they are. This decision should have been taken at a full council meeting and not by a small select group of councillors. I would never have agreed to such an outrageous proposal.

"This is why the SNP are committed to scrapping this cabinet system of government whereby a small select group can dictate to the rest."