A DALGETY BAY man has called into question the new opening hours of the town's recycling centre.

Ken Dunn is a regular at the facility and was annoyed on Saturday June 17 when he turned up at 9.15am to find it shut with queues along the street.

“I find this unacceptable, especially after being closed on Friday,” he said. “Surely weekend days are the ones where full access should be available from opening time.

“I must say I was glad I took the car for the short distance to the Dalgety Bay Recycling Centre on the day there was a problem. I would have been more annoyed if I had walked – as I usually do – and then found it shut.”

Fife Council announced sweeping changes at the beginning of the year to staffing across it facilities with opening hours cut at nine of their centres.

The aim was to save £250,000 and create a “more efficient service”.

Mr Dunn has written to local councillor Alice McGarry to highlight his concerns in the hope that changes can be made.

He believes a re-think on the days which the centre is closed would help residents, suggesting that Tuesday and Thursday closures would mean the facility could open Friday through to Monday when it is more likely to be used.

Councillor McGarry said she expected it to take a while for people to get used to the opening hours.

“Once the new opening times are imprinted on people’s minds, they will know not to go on a Friday – I have made the mistake of going then and ended up in Cowdenbeath.

“Each of the days that Dalgety Bay is closed, Dunfermline and Cowdenbeath are open so it is not the biggest problem in the world.

“We have experienced issues since the changes were introduced with people not being aware of opening and closure times and dropping stuff at the gates which needs sorting but hopefully things will settle and people will get used to it.”

Brian Robertson, service manager at Fife Resource Solutions, said the centre opened late on Saturday due to an “operational issue”.

He added: The site was open and fully operational by 9.30am and we apologise for any inconvenience this caused.

“Over the last few months, we have introduced major changes to the opening times of all our recycling centres, which includes closing one or two days a week and for a period during lunchtime.

"Lunchtimes and closing days have been co-ordinated across Fife to make sure that where one centre is closed, another site nearby will be open.

“We expect that each site will be busier than usual until the new arrangements are bedded in and we appreciate the patience of residents during this time.

“However, we also welcome feedback about the use of all our facilities across Fife.”