Over 200 tickets issued at BGH

The implementation of such a regulation had been rumoured on the Facebook page set up by staff after the introduction of parking restrictions.

Staff have used the lack of a “no-return” period to avoid fines for staying longer than four hours in short-stay parks by moving their vehicles within the park before their time limit is up.

This week the health board also revealed that more than 200 parking-charge notices have been issued since the end of November.

An NHS Borders spokeswoman said: “Two hundred and fourteen parking-charge notices have been issued to incorrectly-parked vehicles that exceed the four-hour parking limit in the designated shortstay parking area.

“Seventy appeals have been received, with 30 of these being upheld. A total of 23 parking-charge notices have been cancelled through the system.”

She added: “Feedback from patients attending the BGH has been overwhelmingly positive about the changes to car-parking arrangements.”

A total of 90 permits have been issued to car-sharing staff for use in the 73 associated spaces created in the short-stay car park in December.