LEGAL action has paved the way for Byzak Ltd to hit Fife Council for “substantial damages” over the Dunfermline Flood Prevention Scheme.

The firm was ditched as contractors on the shambolic project in January but the £27.6million cost could rise again after the termination was ruled invalid. The council began a £9.8million court action against the project designers, Atkins, in December and also applied liquidated damages of £4583 a day to Byzak for each day they went over the deadline of 4th November 2013.

The contract with Byzak was terminated the following month but an independent adjudicator has now ruled that termination invalid and the firm is entitled to receive damages from the council.

Senior representative on the contract, Tony Cookson, said, “We are pleased to have been vindicated in our position.

“Byzak was committed to the project and to its successful completion, and to overcoming the obstacles that were put in our way.

“We worked hard to maintain good relationships with members of the public who were directly affected by the works.

“We offered to accelerate the completion of our works to the end of June 2014, although we had no legal responsibility to do so, but the council rejected that offer.

“We considered that we were unfairly blamed for a situation not of our making when the council terminated our contract, which is why we took the action we did.” He said that Byzak “intends to take up its substantial damages claim” with the council in the near future.

Susan MacKessack, managing solicitor for the council, said, “Fife Council has received the adjudicator’s decision and is giving full consideration to its terms.

“It’s not appropriate to comment further at this stage.” The decision is one more problem in a saga that has seen the controversial project hit by astonishing price hikes and delays, leaving residents affected by the works frustrated and angry.

People living in the area have lost garden ground to the works for years on end while long-standing roadworks made driving to and from their homes a daily chore.

A whistleblowing council employee also blasted security on the sites recently through the Press. When the scheme was first announced in 2002, the initial estimate for the job was £3.75m and it was supposed to take two years, starting in 2005 and finishing in 2007.

The council’s scheme was designed by Atkins Ltd to minimise the risk of flooding to 175 homes and businesses near to the Lyne, Tower and Calais burns and stretches from Brucefield to the McKane Park area.

When the budget was announced, the price had climbed to £14m and the project set to start in 2007 and finish in 2009.

The project re-started this week in similar fashion, with another delay, as Wills Bros Civil Engineering Ltd became the new contractors.

The council had said last week the scheme would be finished this autumn but that’s been pushed back to December. Councillor Pat Callaghan, executive spokesperson for environment and transportation, said, “It’s great to see that work has started again on site.

“Last month we appointed Wills Bros Civil Engineering Ltd to finish the flood prevention works.

“All going well, the job should be completed by December 2014.” The remaining works are in Rex Park – they need to complete flood defence embankments, footpath works, street lighting, the children’s playpark and landscaping works – and Forth Street where they need to finish the structure that’ll allow the flood waters to flow under the road.

Temporary traffic control will be required to provide safe working room for the contractors.

Cllr Callaghan added, “I would like to thank the residents of Dunfermline for their continued patience.

“This project has gone on a lot longer than anyone envisaged but the end is now in sight.”