The £8,000 of flood prevention equipment bought on the advice of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency after the last flooding incident three years ago stood unused as flood water caused more damage.

And there is real anger at the club over what is seen is a lack of any warning that would have allowed the flood prevention measures to be put into action.

The culprit yet again was the Long Philip Burn which burst its banks in the early hours of yesterday, despite club past-president Dennis Henderson warning both local councillor Kenneth Gunn and Philiphaugh Estate last Friday that the burn was becoming choked with debris.

And the clean-up team was left in total astonishment when they heard that neighbour John Neilson had phoned the police around 1am, when he noticed water running down the Yarrow road, yet no one at the club was alerted.

Mr Henderson is incandescent as he once again donned his wellies to man the pumps yesterday morning.

"This is so frustrating. The club spent all that money on flood prevention equipment and it hasn't made a jot of difference.

"Where were our early warnings? If we had known about this at 1am the changing facilities and fitness rooms would have been saved. Instead we have this god-awful mess to clear up once again at further expense to the club."

However, Jim Gill, assistant emergency planning officer at Scottish Borders Council, explained that the early warning flood monitor is on the Ettrick, not the Long Philip Burn – the latter only has a rain gauge in operation.

If the water level on the Ettrick rises high enough – which it did not on Wednesday night – to trigger the warning sensor, SEPA alerts the police, who in turn alert SBC and then the club would be notified.

"The rain gauge, however, does not give that much indication," Mr Gill told The Wee Paper.

A police spokesman confirmed that a member of the public had called in at 12.30pm and officers were dispatched from Hawick to check.

However, the officers reported no serious problems and reported that council staff were in attendance.

Luckily the main part of the clubrooms and the stand remain undamaged and Mr Henderson is confident the annual sevens event scheduled for Sunday, August 24 will go ahead.

The town's football pitches were also affected by flooding.