DUNFERMLINE’S war memorial will be fitted out to provide easier access for elderly and disabled people if plans get the green light.

Fife Council has applied to install a new disabled ramp, handrails and safety balustrade at the memorial on St Margaret Street after identifying “potential safety hazards” at the monument.

In 2013, the council was forced to apologise after war veterans gritted the steps of the memorial themselves because of the frosty and slippery conditions. It has also come under criticism for being inaccessible to the disabled and now the council wants to improve access through a series of changes, which will see the existing steps cut back for a ramp, as well as handrails installed for people to hold on to for support.

Councillor Helen Law, chair of the City of Dunfermline area committee, said, “In 2013 a Garden for Heroes was created in the centre of Dunfermline. This was designed not just as a special place of reflection, recognition and remembrance for the families and friends of armed forces heroes but for all those people who may have lost someone special to them.

“While working on this project it was identified that the war memorial was inaccessible to disabled visitors and that there were potential safety hazards at the monument. The garden was completed for Remembrance Day 2013 but improvements to the war memorial, as a listed monument, would require Listed Monument and Historic Scotland consent, which can be a fairly lengthy process. We are now in a position to start this second phase of the project and look forward to making the war memorial accessible to everyone.

“During these improvement works it is our intention to further enhance the Garden for Heroes with additional floral displays. By public demand, an area for small wooden crosses will also be created alongside the First World War monument in time for Remembrance Day 2015. We aim to ensure additional time is given to the upkeep of the Abbey and Garden for Heroes area.”