WORK will begin on a much-delayed £280,000 project to stabilise the embankment and reinstate the footpath under the Glen Bridge in Dunfermline.

Fife Council's contractor will be on site - previously described by councillors as a no-go zone - from tomorrow (Thursday) with the job expected to last until the end of June.

The area under the category B listed bridge, near the Tesco Fire Station store, has long been an eyesore due to anti-social behaviour, vandalism and littering but it's also dangerous due to landslips at the embankment.

Just over four years ago it was closed off for safety reasons as there was a risk of "members of the public falling from the subsiding path".

Start dates for the work came and went but this week the council said they're ready to go and explained: "The remediation works will involve general site clearance within and around the embankment, re-grading of the embankment to enhance stability and reinstatement of the failed footpath and pedestrian railing.

"The works will also involve installation of palisade fencing around the bridge to prevent unauthorised access."

Dunfermline Press: The area underneath the Glen Bridge in Dunfermline has long been plagued by vandalism, anti-social behaviour and fly-tipping. The area underneath the Glen Bridge in Dunfermline has long been plagued by vandalism, anti-social behaviour and fly-tipping. (Image: Jacqueline Feeley)

The statement continued: "During the works the contractor will use the coach parking spaces adjacent to the site.

"The Tower Burn footpath will be closed for periods of time to allow work to be carried out safely.

"A diversion will be in place throughout the closure with access from the Glen Bridge car park to the footpath which runs adjacent to Tesco and will rejoin the footpath at Winterthur Lane.

"We apologise in advance for any inconvenience caused during these essential improvement works."

The underpass is just yards away from the St Margaret's Cave tourist attraction but has been anything but enticing.

In March 2017 councillors agreed a spend of £20,000 to improve the “dark, depressing and dirty” underpass which had become an underage drinking den and rubbish tip.

It was closed to the public in December 2019 for safety reasons and a heavy-duty barrier to prevent people stumbling down the steep drop had to be removed after it was set on fire.

Back in 2020 the then City of Dunfermline area committee convener, Helen Law, told the Press: "It should be a beauty spot in Dunfermline but for years it's looked terrible, a place to be ashamed of."

And in 2021 a "disgusted" resident counted 41 abandoned shopping trolleys in the area between St Margaret’s Cave and Buffies Brae.

The same year, a council engineer said the footpath had been "subsiding significantly" and there was "no way of predicting when it may collapse into the valley below".

Work was due to start in 2022-23 but the council said it was postponed due to "availability of staff resources".