A DUNFERMLINE man has described Fife Council as ‘dictatorial’ after being taken aback by one of their signs.

Gregor Moffat (49), of James Street, visited the City Chambers last Thursday intending to use a phone in order to find out details of a funeral for one of his friends.

He was about to use one of the council telephones to call bereavement services but changed his mind when he saw a sign (pictured) saying that “Staff will dial the number for you and will remain with you during the call”.

Gregor told the Press, “I saw the sign and had second thoughts. No way was I going to stand there and discuss this over the phone.

“It didn’t sit comfortably with me at all. It was very dictatorial – preserving a few pence for a phonecall rather than preserving people’s data protection.

"It’s very ‘Big Brother-ish’ and I don’t like people knowing my business.

“If you are calling about births, deaths, marriages, domestic abuse, child abuse or reporting anti-social behaviour from a neighbour and there is someone standing behind you while you are telling them about Joe Bloggs etc, the staff could know who the people involved are.

“You are not afforded the same protection like calling a confidential police line. The worst-case scenario would be if you wanted to report child abuse and someone behind you was listening in. That cannot happen.” Mr Moffat, an unemployed HGV driver, spoke to reception staff at the City Chambers to express his concerns but claimed they were unhelpful and tried to “fob him off”, leaving a “bitter taste in the mouth”.

In response, Fife Council’s customer service team leader, Karen Henderson, said, “There is a semi-private pod next to the front counter with a telephone which can be used to contact council services or some other external services.

“Unfortunately, there have been several occasions where this phone has been misused and that is why a sign was put up to let people know that a member of staff would dial the number and remain with them during the call.

"Staff very rarely stay in the pod with customers but they do monitor that the telephone is not being misused.

“We wouldn’t expect customers to use these phones if they have sensitive issues which they wish to discuss. In these instances we would usually set up a face-to-face meeting where the matter can be discussed in confidence with an appropriate member of staff.”