A councillor has expressed how pleased he is after works on a puffin crossing outside a primary school finally began.

Scottish Conservative Councillor for Cowdenbeath, Darren Watt said: “I am very pleased to see work has commenced on implementing a puffin crossing adjacent to Cowdenbeath Primary School.”

The commencement of the works comes after demand for action on road safety from parents, pupils, school staff and pedestrians. Parents expressed safety concerns regarding the road with Councillor Watt back in 2021.

Councillor Watt said of the crossing: “It will offer much needed assurances for safety at the end of the day, it’s been something that pupils, parents, school patrol officer and teachers have been asking for for a long time, just to ensure that people can get to and from school as safely and efficiently as possible.

“There’s been a couple of minor incidents over the last several years but nothing thankfully that has resulted in any serious injury or fatalities.”

The roadworks should be finished in time for the schools returning on Monday. However, there are still ongoing road safety concerns regarding Foulford Road where Beath High School is located.

This is despite Foulford Road already having traffic calming measures such as a 20mph speed limit, speed cushions and an experienced school crossing patrol officer.

Councillor Watt said: “It is one that will require multi-agency and multi-authority approach coordinating alongside the police, schools, myself and fellow councillors as well as various senior officials from the transportation department because we’ve already got the police who are aware of ongoing speeding and reckless driving, particularly at school times.

“We’ll have to obviously have a good look at what other measures can be in place to actually encourage drivers to drive more responsibly.”