Only on Friday were the householders officially informed, as reported in last week's Southern, that they had been unsuccessful in their bid to fight a compulsory purchase order (CPO) bid by the local authority.

As a result, the council can now acquire the five pieces of land at the rear of the Old Vineries - a cul-de-sac comprising 11 private detached houses - and build an access road linking the main roundabout in the village to a new primary school on Meigle Farm. The road will also service a 70-house Barratt housing development adjacent to the site of the school which is due for completion next spring.

The row over the outcome of the inquiry - held in Galashiels on May 6 - and how it was publicised centres around Tory councillor Gavin Logan, who lives just outside Clovenfords. On Monday, July 5, he sent out press releases and gave radio interviews, welcoming the inquiry's findings.

SBC leader David Parker told us: "It is very regrettable that the result of the CPO inquiry ended up in the public domain before the residents knew about it.

"I am happy to apologise on behalf of SBC for this matter and would apologise to the residents involved if the issue has caused any upset and concern.

"I have already spoken to one of the residents on the phone to apologise.

"Believe me, the release of the information was more cock-up than conspiracy. None of us wanted the information to get out in this way and there was a genuine breakdown of communication which was absolutely not the fault of Councillor Logan."

The resident who Mr Parker called was Mike Stanley.

"Apparently, Mr Parker told his depute leader (Neil Calvert] who in turn told Mr Logan without mentioning the information was in confidence," said Mr Stanley.

"At the end of the day it does not really matter who said what to whom ... all it says to me is that none of them can be trusted."

"We have to accept the decision after six years of campaigning," said another Old Vineries resident Tony Birch. "What we didn't need was a large dose of humiliation."

During the inquiry, Messrs Birch and Stanley were among eight Old Vineries residents who claimed the new road would see around 100 vehicles a day entering and exiting their cul-de-sac and that they would endure "considerable inconvenience" with construction traffic.