A "FINAL ATTEMPT" has been made to tackle a fly-tipping hotspot in Cowdenbeath.

The recycling point at Bridge Street has unfortunately been routinely used as a "dumping point" for waste.

Fife Council has now taken the decision to replace the recycling containers with a single mixed glass unit.

Cireco, Fife's arms-length commercial waste organisation, commented that the change will be monitored.

Robin Baird, chief executive officer, said: "We work hard to encourage recycling at dedicated points across Fife.

"Unfortunately, however this site has routinely been used as a dumping point for waste which has then had to be sent to landfill.

"As glass is the only material people cannot recycle at home, we've changed this site in a final attempt to have it operating as a genuine recycling point.

"We'll continue to monitor the situation in the hope that people will use the site to recycle their glass and help do their bit to care for the environment."

Photos taken of the site since the introduction of the single mixed glass container has shown that residents are still dumping waste materials and are not using the unit to recycle.

Cowdenbeath councillor Darren Watt expressed his disappointment that the decision was taken without consultation.

He commented: "Some local people may have already noticed that Fife Council have removed all of the recycling containers and replaced them with a single mixed glass unit.

"Although this was previously suggested by council officers as a way of tackling the persistent fly-tipping, this was rejected by me and my fellow ward councillors in the first instance without further discussion.

"It is therefore extremely disappointing that officers had taken the decision upon themselves without any consultation or notice.

"I will be pursuing this without delay and will ensure those who do want to responsibly dispose of their excess waste are not unfairly penalised or face further inconvenience.

"We should be supporting the vast majority of decent people to recycle their waste and do all we can to make it as simple and efficient as possible."