FLOODING in Rosyth is 'not being ignored' despite a Fife Council study omitting incidents in the town for a second time.

Last month, members of the South and West Fife area committee reacted angrily after a report into the devastating deluge that fell on the Kingdom in late summer made no mention of any problems in the town, despite several areas being under water.

The thunderstorm that struck on August 11-12, and more torrential rain on August 25, led to 239 flooding 'events' being recorded across the county but did not include any in Rosyth and missed out incidents in Aberdour, Dalgety Bay and Inverkeithing.

At the policy and co-ordination committee last week, Councillor David Barratt said: "It's very disappointing to see the report come forward again with the list of additional areas of flooding we provided not included, and again no reference to Rosyth.

"If we don't have an accurate record of where there is flooding on each occasion, we can't properly direct those resources to ensure the areas that are regularly flooded are addressed."

Cllr Dave Dempsey said the list was "seriously incomplete" but Derek Crowe, senior manager in the roads and transportation service, said they hadn't been asked for a list of all the places in Fife that had flooded, but the incidents that were recorded and responded to by the council.

He added: "We've been working in Rosyth with the community for as long as I can recall.

"There are real difficulties with flooding in Rosyth but they're known and we are working on them."

The council deployed 129 personnel, 84 vehicles and approximately 4,300 sandbags across the 239 incidents.

Mr Crowe said: "In short, it was one of the worst and most intense storms ever to be recorded and well beyond the capacity of our systems and, equally, the level of resources we have to deploy to such incidents.

"Are we prepared for such things? I would say we are. We have flood emergency procedures and that includes many preparatory and mitigating steps that we take to try and prevent the worst effects of a storm.

"They were all applied on this occasion, the flood pods were checked and filled, trash screens and trouble spots were cleared and watercourses checked – it really didn't have a great deal of effect as the storm was just so serious."

As part of the clear-up, there is £325,000 for follow-up investigations, mitigation measures, road drainage and gully-clearing, but the list of jobs was long and "one we cannot completely tackle".

Cllr Barratt said officers should request information from local councillors, as well as the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), police and fire, to find the true picture of flooding events in each area of the Kingdom.

Cllr David Ross, co-leader of the council, also moved an amendment that all available funding for tackling flooding issues should be identified, and a report prepared on the council-wide response to such events.

Cllr Altany Craik added: "Anyone that's ever been flooded has my total and utter sympathy and admiration as picking yourself up after you've been flooded is awful.

"Some of the homes we've been in after flooding events, it's total devastation, so we need to get this right and be seen as the support for the people of Fife.

"Whether that's housing support, advice, whether it's our guys on the ground in their wellies, our visibility has to be almost like that of an emergency response and that will come down to resources and that will come down to priorities."

Cllr Helen Law said: "The report is comprehensive but what's missing is how we deal with people when they're having these catastrophes on their doorsteps.

"I think we urgently need to set up our own emergency resilience across Fife, for flooding or any other major issue, so folk know where to go to get help."