Tankers making deliveries to the Hillside Service Station have to slow as they travel up the incline along Hillside Terrace towards the entrance to the filling station.

On the way they pass the gates of Selkirk High School and it now seems that some children are playing a potentially lethal game of chicken.

Ann Leitch is station manager and told The Wee Paper this week that, earlier this year, she had cause to contact the school in an effort to get teachers to speak to pupils about their dangerous behaviour.

“A number of youngsters pretend to push each other in front of the tanker as it makes its way up the hill towards us,” Ann explained.

“And because it’s coming up the hill fully laden with fuel, it is moving fairly slowly and some of the kids are thumping and banging on the side of it as it goes past.

“This could have serious consequences if the tanker drivers were to be distracted, or swerve to avoid a child being pushed into their path by friends as a kind of prank.

“Luckily, nothing bad has happened yet, but if a tanker driver was to swerve to avoid a child or was distracted and ended up colliding with another vehicle, the whole thing could go up in flames.

“I did contact the school earlier this year in the hope that teachers would speak to pupils at assembly and warn them how dangerous doing this sort of thing is.

“But it’s still happening and everyone round here knows it still goes on. It needs to be stopped before there is a serious accident.”

And two of Selkirk’s Scottish Borders councillors – Carolyn Riddell-Carre and Kenneth Gunn – said they were extremely concerned to hear of children risking injury – and possibly worse.

“If this is going on, it has to stop,” said Mrs Riddell-Carre. “This might seem just a silly game to these children, but it won’t be so silly if it ends up with a fireball over that part of the town if a tanker has an accident.”

And Mr Gunn echoed her concerns: “ I’ve always thought it was dangerous having youngsters going to school along such pavements bordering a trunk road.

“It’s bad enough when they walk two abreast, but if it’s three or four – that’s even more dangerous as the pavement is so narrow and there is such a lot of traffic.

“A trunk road passing the main gates of a school is one reason we should have a bypass.

“And I would be extremely concerned if children were playing such dangerous games with fuel tankers and it’s something I will speak to the police about, and see if they could arrange to visit the school to speak to the youngsters.”