A NEW report has revealed there were 254 complaints about issues such as dog-fouling and littering – but just three fixed penalty notices handed out by Fife Council.

The environmental gripes were made between April 1 and September 30 in South West Fife, which includes Rosyth, Inverkeithing, Dalgety Bay and the West Fife villages. 

The council’s safer communities team, specially set up to deal with such complaints, were told about 93 abandoned vehicles, 35 dog-fouling incidents, four littering offences, 100 cases of illegal dumping and 26 reports of ‘dirty’ gardens in that time. 

But officers issued just three fixed penalty notices for fly-tipping, the same number as in the previous six months, with each offender told to pay £80. 

No fixed penalties were issued for dog-fouling, littering or noise. 

In a report, Paul Vaughan, the head of communities and neighbourhoods, said: “Issuing fixed penalty notices is only one course of action open to the team, officers investigate all complaints as well as participating in preventative initiatives and campaigns.”

He said one example was a high-profile campaign, ‘Just Bin It’, that was carried out in Rosyth to try to reduce the amount of littering and dog-fouling and that they “continue to monitor” the areas. 

The 254 environmental complaints was a marked improvement from the previous six months, when they received 369 in South West Fife.