WORK to remove radiation contamination from a Dalgety Bay beach looks set to be delayed by around a year.

The process to put the work out to tender doesn’t appear to have been completed in time for work to start, as planned, next spring which means it has to be put off for 12 months.

Members of Fife Council’s South West Fife area committee were given an update on the project’s progress at their meeting last week and Dalgety Bay and Inverkeithing councillor David Barratt was disappointed with what he heard.

“Basically, everything is in place to be able to allow the MoD to go out to tender and get prices to get the work started but because they have taken so long to get to this stage, they don’t think they will have the tender complete by the beginning of the window that allows them to build,” he explained.

“If they are not ready, there is no point starting until the following window which will be around April 2020. The delay has come as result of it sitting with the relevant Government minister for too long, which is a bit frustrating.

“The guy from the MoD didn’t have an explanation. It seems it has sat in the minister’s inbox for too long and, as a result, there is a full year’s delay.”

An MoD spokesperson told the Press that “unforeseen delays” had resulted in the planned target date for work to start on site now being unachievable.

The spokesperson added: “The MoD will now revisit the project information to allow the schedule to be reset and the funding profile to be adjusted accordingly.

“The revised schedule will take into account restrictions caused by various environmental factors and planning constraints. The amended schedule will be communicated to relevant stakeholders as soon as it has been agreed.”

Planning permission for the project to start was granted last year and will include work on the foreshore, which includes installing a geotextile membrane and replacing and reinforcing rock armour to isolate and remove higher activity material.

The existing jetty and slipways at Dalgety Bay Sailing Club are also due to be replaced.

When it eventually gets under way, the work is likely to take around two years to be carried out so it looks likely to be at least 2022 before it is completed.