FIFE COUNCIL has been blasted by one of its own workers for the four-years late and £11 million over-budget flood prevention scheme “fiasco”.

The worker, who asked to remain anonymous, let rip on the flood team’s handling of the debacle and accused project designers Atkins Ltd of using contractors Byzak Ltd as a “scapegoat”.

The worker, who also submitted the photographs accompanying this article, told the Press, “The scheme has become Dunfermline’s answer to the Edinburgh trams saga.

"The latest delay in these works is just extending the misery for the hundreds of residents in the area of the works.” The farce descended into further chaos in January when Fife Council terminated the work with Byzak and the Press also reported in December that the council was taking a £9.8m court action against project designers Atkins.

As well as years of disruption for local residents, the project has also been causing major traffic tailbacks since 2012 – which have since evaporated following the recent suspension of work.

And there will be a further delay to works as the project goes out to tender, with a new contractor only expected to begin work during the summer at the earliest.

The state of the work area around Rex Park and Forth Street since that suspension was branded “unacceptable” and the worker stated that Fife Council “had failed to do even the basics”.

They said, “When the works were halted Fife Council was very vocal about assuring the public that they would keep the work areas ‘safe and secure’ until another contractor was found.

"Since then they have not even maintained the security fencing, which they are legally required to do.

“Children are able to walk freely into Rex Park and encounter unprotected, unfinished work pits and construction materials.

"The Forth Street work site has two areas within the open and running burn which now look like partially-built swimming pools.

“I would not want my children anywhere near unmonitored dangers like these, why should the residents around Rex Park and Forth Street have to contend with such unnecessary neglect?” The worker questioned the local authority’s secrecy surrounding updates on the scheme, which the press and members of the public were excluded from.

They also took aim at Atkins for making changes to the project’s design after agreeing a deal with a sub-contractor and then using this as an excuse for not paying them.

“Why have reports been excluded from the public and press? This is a small flood prevention scheme, not Watergate,” they said.

“The council and Atkins have made a scapegoat of their former contractor, Byzak, and certain colleagues of mine may feel they have come out of this project well but this cannot be allowed to carry on.

“The saddest, most frustrating fact about this whole erroneous fiasco is that we could have avoided all this misery and saved millions of pounds of public money by just doing our housekeeping properly – maintaining the burn structure, keeping it clean and clearing the trash screens regularly.” In response to the accusations, a spokesman for Atkins Ltd said, “We continue to focus on working with the council to bring the project to a conclusion as soon as practical.” Derek Crowe, from the roads and engineering services department, admitted he was surprised that the anonymous worker had not expressed their views directly with his team and said that a private security firm visits the site six times a day.

He also denied that Atkins were still in control of the project and said that the council’s internal roads design and construction team will be overseeing the work.

Mr Crowe, “No work is taking place at the site and there is no moving machinery.

"The fencing continues to be vandalised but we repair it as soon as it’s reported. The work at Forth Street is not finished but is safe.

“We’re well on the way to finding a new contractor. Priced tenders are due to be returned on 2nd May and we’re looking to appoint the successful contractor by 23rd May.

“It’s expected work will start on 16th June and will be finished by the end of October.”