DRIVERS are being urged to lower their speed when passing a West Fife driving school.

Students and instructors at the Tapitlaw Riding School are struggling to cross the road at the school outside Comrie because of speeding vehicles, and Douglas Chapman MP has now stepped in to try to address safety concerns.

Because of the road's 60mph limit and the school's location on a blind bend, instructors have to put themselves in harm's way regularly to slow down or stop oncoming traffic.

The Dunfermline and West Fife MP has now backed their calls for the speed limit on the road to be reduced.

“It doesn’t make any sense for this stretch of road to be set at 60mph and I know all the local councillors, across all parties, have expressed their concerns to Fife Council," he said. "The campaign has also won support from the local community councils too.

“The section is only 0.7 miles long and connects Comrie with Blairhall and is sandwiched by 30mph and 40mph speed limits, causing drivers to hit the throttle as soon as the limit changes, putting users of the riding school at risk.

“Pupils at Tapitlaw should be able to cross the road on their horses without fear of being hit by a speeding car and causing harm to themselves and their horse.

"Tapitlaw also works closely with disabled riders which only compounds a dangerous situation as they might not respond as quickly when seeing a fast-moving oncoming car or lorry.

“Also, drivers do not realise the damage a big horse could cause to their vehicles. If the horse is scared or frightened their behaviour may become unpredictable, causing great damage to cars, the horses themselves and their riders.

“I have written to Fife Council to demand that the speed limit of this section of road be looked at and other simple solutions to make crossing the road more safely be investigated.”

West Fife and Coastal Villages Councillor Kate Stewart added: “I have serious safety concerns about this stretch of road outside Tapitlaw Riding School.

“We must see urgent action from the council to make the road safer.”