BELLWAY Homes have moved to drain a pool of water from a new housing development in Dunfermline after fears were raised that a child "could drown” in it.

A local resident living close to the site on East Baldridge Drive, who asked not to be named, sent photos to the Press showing a deep body of water had accumulated over a number of weeks.

“It’s very, very deep and it’s the size of a large swimming pool,” they said.

“If a child got through the fencing they would be finished; they could drown.

“There is fencing in place but it’s so easy to move.

“We’ve had delivery drivers stopping and asking us what’s happening here because they couldn’t believe the amount of water.

“It really is horrendous and it’s started to seep under the pavement that Persimmon Homes previously put down where we stay.

“Some slabs were lifted at the side of the house because it was soaking wet underneath and it’s cracking that pavement Persimmon put down.”

The site is west of Queen Anne High School and part of the 1,100 houses that are to be built between Wellwood and Milesmark as part of a huge northern expansion to the town.

The local resident went on to state that they had recently reached out to Bellway about this issue but it had never been addressed.

The Press asked the company last week whether any action would be taken to drain the water.

A spokesperson commented that a contractor would visit the site to start pumping the water away.

They said: “This is a new site that we are just in the initial stages of starting construction on.

“Prior to this, there were civil engineering works on the site to prepare the site for handover to us.

“As a result, the top soil has been removed which has led to the pooling of the water.

“The area of concern is within the compound of the site, so isn’t accessible to the public but we are starting to pump the water away over the next few days so we can begin construction works.”

The property developer updated the Press to confirm that work had started on draining the water and that they would prevent this from happening in the future.

The pumping of the water was underway with levels expected to be "substantially down".

The spokesperson added: “Once this is resolved we will continue to ensure the site is kept free of water going forward.”

The issue has been brought into sharp focus after a 10-year-old boy tragically died in Glasgow recently after an accident on a building site.

Work was being carried out on the site, in the Drumchapel area of the city, to address flooding problems.