Council workers were forced to abandon surfacing work on an old drovers’ track after a blockade by residents.

Locals in Galashiels, Selkirkshire, cut off the 200-year-old cobbled road with cars when they saw council workermen tarring over the surface.

Scottish Borders Council had to abandon work on the half-mile stretch, which forms part of the Southern Upland Way. Scottish Natural Heritage and the owner of the land on which the land lies, Laird of Gala John Scott, support the residents action.

The council insists the track is not part of the Way. It says the material used is ‘recycled road material’. 30m of the disputed road were resurfaced before the action. Cllr Fiona Lackenby said: “There has been a misunderstanding here about who owns the land.”