FIFE Conservatives have slammed Labour MP Lesley Laird for “cynically clinging” on to her position as a councillor. 

She was labelled a "disgrace" for holding onto four jobs but hit back and said her main accuser wasn't "man enough" to raise it with her at a meeting they both attended. 

Mrs Laird won the Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath seat in last year's snap General Election and has remained as a councillor for Inverkeithing and Dalgety Bay. 

The Scottish Conservatives chairman in Fife, Scott Campbell, said: “It’s been clear for months that Mrs Laird can’t cope with the combined roles of MP, councillor, shadow cabinet member and deputy party leader. 

"For her, councillor has taken a back seat. She should have stood down months ago and it’s a disgrace that she still hasn’t done so.”

Fife Conservatives leader, Councillor Dave Dempsey, who represents the same Inverkeithing and Dalgety Bay ward, said: “The rules require a councillor to attend a council or committee meeting at least once in any six months. 

“Mrs Laird showed up at a council meeting on October 5 and then waited till April 4, the last possible day, to appear at a committee meeting in Inverkeithing. 

"In between, she’s scarcely been seen at all and has missed dozens of community council, parent council and other meetings, where councillors do the real work.

“Inverkeithing and Dalgety Bay is one of the bigger council wards. It has four councillors for a reason and the sooner it gets four who are actually doing the job, the better. 

"The public deserve no less.”

However, Mrs Laird hit back: “As Dave would be wise to learn, being an effective councillor is not just about having a presence, it’s about action and delivering results and my track record speaks for itself. 

“I ensured the long overdue delivery of new housing for Fraser Avenue which Dave originally voted against, and also investment in the wing and other sports facilities in the area. 

“I am currently actively campaigning for a replacement Inverkeithing High School, delivery of the promised radiation clean-up at Dalgety Bay, dealing with flight path concerns, major planning concerns in Aberdour and improving train services, amongst many other things. 

“I’m regularly contacted about issues at the heart of the community by constituents and that’s my focus – it should also be his."

And she continued: “Dave sat next to me yesterday in a meeting for nearly two hours and wasn’t man enough to raise this question with me or in an open forum where I would have had the right to reply. 

"Says it all really.

“Given the reported splits within the Fife Tory group, Dave should be more concerned with his own position and party, rather than worrying about me. 

"Some people might think this a cynical ploy on his part to grab a headline but, thankfully, I’m focused on the real issues in the ward and am actively engaged with constituents and representing residents on the issues that matter to them.”