DOBBIES have been urged to secure its site in Dalgety Bay after fears it could become a hotspot for fly-tipping.

The garden centre closed in February and there has been no word on what might replace it on the site.

Domestic household waste has been dumped there in the last couple of weeks and it looks as though that rubbish has come all the way from Linlithgow to West Fife.

Fife Council's safer communities team have visited the site following reports of fly-tipping but the illegal waste can't be uplifted as it's on private land.

Dalgety Bay councillor David Barratt has now asked Dobbies what their plans are for the site and if they could remove the rubbish and better secure their land.

He told the Press: "Dobbies has done little to secure its car park and unfortunately that's attracting fly-tipping.

"I visited the site with the safer communities team and they highlighted the risk of it becoming a fly-tipping hotspot.

"I have tried to email Dobbies but there has been no response yet."

The councillor said he found it surprising that it was domestic waste that had been dumped.

Items have come from Linlithgow with school work from a current pupil of the local high school among the heap made up of clothes, suitcases and bags.

In a separate pile there was also an oven.

"It was a surprise that it was domestic waste and I'm trying to get my head around why that would occur," Cllr Barratt said.

"It could be someone has paid someone to empty a house.

"But waste from Linlithgow has been dumped in Fife – we can see from the paperwork.

"I have contacted the high school and they have told me they are looking into it."

There was shock when Dobbies announced they were closing their Dalgety Bay store with just a month's notice earlier in the year.

The firm said the decision was down to its strategic plan growth which focused on larger, medium and specialist stores rather than smaller centres such as Dalgety Bay.

Rumours circulated that the site had been sold but Cllr Barratt said information on the Land Registry suggested that it had been sold to a shell company within the Dobbies group.

Cllr Barratt added: "It's a bit of a mystery what the store will be.

"But the store has only been closed for months and it's already considerably derelict – it's an awful site already.

"The fly-tipping has prompted the question; what is happening to the site?"

A spokesperson for Dobbies said: “The Dalgety Bay store has been sold, subject to planning. Since closing in February, team members from the Dunfermline store have monitored the site to ensure there are no issues.

"We will continue to do this, until such times as the new owner takes control of the site.”

This morning (Tuesday, September 15) a spokesperson for Dobbies added: “Team members have visited the site regularly. The domestic household waste that was left has been removed by our team. A fence will be installed this week and we will continue to monitor the site.”