Vicky Davidson, Scottish Borders Council’s executive member for economic development, wants the region, because of recent job losses, to be considered a “special case” by HM Revenue and Customs which intends axing the offices to save nearly £200,000 a year. A consultation on the proposals ended on August 6.

Having voiced its opposition to the agency by that date, the council agreed last week that leader David Parker should write directly to Jane Kennedy MP, financial secretary to the treasury, and appeal for a reprieve, highlighting the lack of comparable alternative job opportunites locally.

Underpinning that letter will be gloomy statistics on the region’s over-dependency on manufacturing jobs (15 per cent compared to 9 per cent in Scotland) and its unenviable status of having Scotland’s lowest workplace earnings, at just 86 per cent of the national average.

The minister will hear that Galashiels has lost 130 jobs over the last two years (at Lynch McQueen, Barbour, JobCentre Plus and Perident) and 160 in Hawick (Hawick Cashmere, Johnstone’s of Elgin, Pringle, Buccleuch Printers and Little Rascals).

Mr Parker will tell Mrs Kennedy that the Scottish Government considered last month’s announcement of 80 Pringle job losses serious enough to merit a visit by cabinet secretary John Swinney who stressed the need for government jobs, like those at HMRC, to be relocated from the central belt to Hawick.

“This proposal directly undermines this action,” said Bryan McGrath, SBC’s head of economic development and regeneration in his recent submission to HMRC. “The [Westminster] Government should be proactively encouraging and sustaining jobs in rural areas, not removing them from fragile areas like the Borders.”

Councillor Davidson said she was particularly concerned because the HMRC jobs – 15 at New Reiver House in Galashiels and 10 at the Crown Building in Hawick – were relatively high value and worth around £1million to the local economy. They also made a significant contribution to a more diversified economic base.

“We have worked hard to bring well-paid office jobs to the region, notably with the Scottish Public Pensions Agency at Tweedbank and a co-location of the tax jobs there should at least be considered.

“As a council we could work with our partners to identify suitable alternative locations in both towns which would reduce costs while retaining the jobs.”

Hawick councillor Ron Smith focused on the impact on customers. “Discussions on matters concerning tax can be very sensitive and these are best served by face-to-face interviews: not by moving offices to Edinburgh or suggesting these take place over the internet.”

The former Hawick High School depute rector added: “There used to be a local saying that people were educated out of the town: in other words, because of our blue-collar tradition, they had to leave to bag a prized white-collar job.