A DUNFERMLINE town centre resident has hit out after a change in parking restrictions in his street.

Ian Hill said any visitors who come to his home are now forced to park "miles away" as parking rules in Edgar Street have been altered.

"I cannot work it out – they have introduced parking restrictions which allow you to park for two hours then you have to leave," he said.

"It says you are restricted to two hours unless you have a resident's parking permit which is like a lot of streets around us but ours has been excluded from applying.

"It just seems illogical. They introduced it last week and it has come out of the blue. None of my fellow residents have been informed either.

"My neighbour phoned up and they said we have got a driveway and that is the reason we are excluded but some houses have double driveways and most of them just have space for one car. 

"I am in a four-bedroom house. My kids come to stay with me and are going to have to park miles away which is ridiculous. Most families have two cars anyway. 

"I think half of the residents haven't got a scoobie what is going on. I would think they should have had to have public consultation."

Phil Clarke, Fife Council's lead consultant on traffic management, said they "consulted extensively" on a residents' parking scheme with householders in Kirklands, Rolland Street and Reid Street as they had been experiencing problems parking near to their properties due to all-day commuter parking.

"Original proposals included limited waiting (two hours), applicable to the bays on Edgar Street with no exemption for residents," he explained.

"However, after consultation with residents of the affected streets, we decided to allow permit-holders to park in the bays on Edgar Street as well. 

"As all properties in Edgar Street have off-street parking and have space for two cars per property; they were not included in the list of qualifying properties for permits.

"When the order was advertised, notices were posted on Edgar Street, however, we received no contact from residents on these proposals.

"We will monitor usage of residential bays and if there is capacity we will consider allowing residents of Edgar Street to buy permits."