AROUND £240,000 has been paid in compensation to residents, organisations and businesses affected by Dunfermline's £35 million flood prevention scheme.

Almost six years after the troubled project was finally completed, Fife Council confirmed that 29 claims had been settled and believe there are no more in the pipeline.

The scheme should have been ready in 2007 but wasn't finished until 2015 and, by that time, the cost had rocketed to almost 10 times the initial £3.75m estimate for the job.

A report to go before councillors today (Thursday) states: "The district valuer has advised that there has not been any recent correspondence on any claims.

"He has therefore closed any existing files and considers that there are no current outstanding claims for compensation."

The council said the last claim that had been settled was in March 2019.

The scheme was designed to minimise the risk of flooding to 175 homes and businesses near the Lyne, Tower and Calais burns from Brucefield to the McKane Park area.

The Scottish Government confirmed the Dunfermline Flood Prevention Scheme in June 2004 and this gave the council the right to take entry to land for construction works.

The legislation also provided for landowners to be paid compensation under certain circumstances.

In 2018, the council had set aside £182,000 to settle claims and appointed the district valuer to provide advice and make recommendations.

Residents sought compensation after complaining of years of construction work and disruption, with gardens ruined or reduced in size and their homes developing cracks and faults as a result of the piling work.

Dunfermline Cricket Club also received money as part of their McKane Park ground was used for the works – at one stage the council paid for someone to be present during matches to return balls that entered the works compound.

Dunfermline Tennis and Bridge Club claimed the flood prevention scheme works had damaged their courts and sought compensation after spending thousands of pounds on resurfacing.

A claim submitted by a firm about their storage yard in Elgin Street was also settled.

When the scheme was first announced in the Press in October 2003, the council’s initial estimate for the work was £3.75m, with the two-year project due to start in April 2005 and be completed by 2007.

The cost rose to £9.77m in November 2005 and the start date was pushed back a second time to May 2007 with a revised budget of £14m.

It was completed eventually in 2015 at a cost of more than £35m.

The council were unhappy with the work and took legal action against the project designers (Atkins) and the contractors (Byzak).

Byzak were ditched as the contractors in 2014 but an independent adjudicator ruled that the termination of the contract was invalid and the company was entitled to compensation from the council.

A £9.8m court action was taken by the council against Atkins in December 2013 and, more than seven years later, has still to be determined.