A FORMER Argyll and Bute Council worker has warned that lives will be put at risk if the local authority’s road safety unit is scrapped.

Carl Olivarius, 65, worked as a road safety officer between 1977 and 2009 and spent 27 years in the role in Argyll and Bute before retiring.

He told the Advertiser he is concerned about budget proposals to reduce spending on the area’s roads department and plans to remove its safety unit.

If the proposals are approved, the move would save £13,000 in 2018-19, £84,000 in 2019-20 and a further £84,000 in 2020-21, and would result in the loss of the full-time equivalent of 1.7 council jobs.

But Mr Olivarius said he believed any move to scrap the unit would result in more casualties on the area’s roads.

He said: “Fatal casualties in Scotland have reduced over the last 40 years and I cannot believe the council is willing to jeopardise the success so far.

“They say that the role will be taken up by other organisations, but I don’t think it will be, because they won’t have the background knowledge.

“I think if it is decided, it will be a wrong decision from the council.”

He added: “It’s difficult to quantify the role of an RSO [road safety officer] because we could work all year and then have a bad winter but if RSOs have saved one life in the last five years due to educating people then it’ll be worth it.

“If the role is cut I would be surprised if casualties did not increase in the long term. Today’s children are tomorrow’s drivers.”

A spokeswoman for Argyll and Bute Council said: “Year on year cuts to our funding mean that, like all councils, we must make changes to how we work.

“We would like to do everything our communities want us to do but this unfortunately isn’t an option. Our budget gap is estimated to be as much as £8.5m in 2018/19, and £33.9m over next three years.

“We therefore consult with local people so that, as far as funding allows, we can base how we change on their feedback.”

The budget will be set at a council meeting next month.

“Savings proposals, which include removing the road safety unit, will be considered at the budget-setting meeting in February.”

The Road Traffic Act 1988 states that a local authority “must prepare and carry out a programme of measures designed to promote road safety”.

Mr Olivarius is concerned that getting rid of the RSO would make this more difficult for the council to achieve.

In response, a spokeswoman said: “All the budget proposals are in line with our statutory requirements.”

Helensburgh’s MSP, Jackie Bailile, said: “Argyll and Bute Council has a legal duty to deliver road safety education and if councillors decide to axe the dedicated road safety unit they could find it difficult to fulfil their responsibilities to provide expert advice and training to local residents.

“The safety of children and young people should be a priority but the council is faced with savage cuts from the Scottish Government.

“This is only one of a number of cuts to local services in Argyll and Bute being considered by the council which will mean fewer janitors in our schools and cuts to social care services for elderly and vulnerable residents.”

Argyll and Bute MP Brendan O’Hara said: “I am really alarmed that road safety could even be contemplated as a saving for the council but I confess to not knowing the full detail as yet. There are some things that you just can’t cut.

“We’ve seen too frequently tragedies on our roads – even suggesting that road safety is not a priority sends out all the wrong messages to the public.”