'Safety' first for road upgrade

The councils have campaigned for the A1 to be upgraded

A campaign to upgrade the A1 to a dual carriageway in the Scottish Borders should continue to focus on road safety, a council spokesman has said.

Safelink was set up in the 1980s by councils on both sides of the border to demand investment in the A1 between Edinburgh and Newcastle.

The Borough Council in Berwick wants to rebrand the campaign to concentrate on an economic argument for improvements.

However, Scottish Borders Council has opposed the move.

The council's spokesman on transport issues, Councillor Gordon Edgar, said his local authority would continue pressing for total dualling of the A1 for road safety reasons.

He said that while it would be right to discuss all options for Safelink, he would advise against a total re-brand.

There have been a number of upgrading schemes on the A1 but there are still long stretches of single carriageway between Dunbar in East Lothian and Morpeth in Northumberland.