A MOTORIST cheated death on Tuesday after her black Renault Clio overturned on the notorious Grange Road accident black spot.

The accident occurred around 8.04am, resulting in the stretch between Primrose Lane and the A985 - Brankholm Brae - being closed for 50 minutes while the car was recovered.

Fife police said the motorist appeared to have lost control of the car.

Fifefighters from Rosyth, Dunfermline and Lochgelly attended the scene as did the police and ambulance services.

The woman had been released from the car before the emergency services arrived and was given oxygen at the scene. Fife police said she declined to be taken to hospital.

Grange Road (pictured) has been the site of around 40 accidents, including two fatalities, since 2002.

Off-duty policewoman Kirsty Allan, from Rosyth, died on the road in 2007 after her car overturned. Her son, who was three at the time, survived without serious injury. She was 24.

Another victim was 29-year-old cyclist Brian Taylor, from Dunfermline, who was killed in 2008 while on his way to work at Stephen's bakery in Primrose Lane.

He was involved in a collision with a silver Rover travelling in the opposite direction and his partner, Luisa Palminha, called for the road to be closed down.

Six years ago, Fife Council considered closing the road for safety reasons but sided with public opinion to keep it open.

Last year the City of Dunfermline area committee voted to close the road after hearing the fatal crash rate on the route was more than eight times higher than the national average but after a debate on the road's future, Fife Council voted to keep the road open.

Following Tuesday's accident, Rosyth representatives maintained that was the right decision.

SNP councillor Douglas Chapman said, "This accident could have happened on any road in Fife or Scotland given the current weather conditions.

"Keeping the road open was widely welcomed by a lot of people in Rosyth and I don't see any reason to change that because of one unfortunate incident.

"It's an issue for the individual involved but we have to look at the wider picture, which is that it's a valuable route that's used by a lot of people between Rosyth and Dunfermline.

"Lots of people use this road safely and there's no good reason to close the road.

"We're looking at improvements to signage and having a lower speed limit on it as well to make it as safe as we can possibly get it." Labour councillor Pat Callaghan agreed, saying, "The road should be kept open because like any other properly maintained road in Fife it has a purpose.

"It is an absolutely strategic route for Rosyth and Dunfermline and has strategic value now and for the future.

"It's used as an access road for emergency services and for farm access as well. I hope the girl's OK but the problem is going to be poor conditions.

"If you agree to maintain the speed limits and maintain the road, it's safe for use." A recent survey of Rosyth residents also showed that more than 93 per cent who responded were in favour of keeping the road open.

Rosyth Community Council chair Mike Shirkie added, "The position with the community council is that we want it to be kept open and we're having ongoing discussions with Fife Council transportation services to make it safer.

"The key thing is to find out if the road was gritted or not. To be honest the current weather conditions across the UK make it difficult for any road to be safe right now." Fife Council confirmed that the road had been gritted, at 4am and 8am, on Tuesday.