THE rising popularity of the 'man cave' could be to blame for a slight increase in non-domestic building fires in Dunfermline.

While the rise of one from last year to 19 wasn't particularly alarming, new fire chief Russell Hammell said it was "notable" that none of the incidents occurred between June and September.

The station commander said he believed the male retreat, typically a specially-equipped garage or shed where men hang out with pals, play video games, indulge in hobbies and watch sports, was "having an effect" on the figures.

At the City of Dunfermline area committee on Tuesday, Mr Hammell told councillors: "Almost a third of those fires were from garden sheds so they're non-domestic buildings in the sense they're not houses but they are attached to domestic premises.

"Looking at the times when they happened, they tended to avoid the summer months, so from June to September there were none of those types of fires.

"They were clustered around colder, darker months which led us to believe, again anecdotally from attending some of these fires, they tended to happen due to electrical and heating faults.

"The so-called 'man cave', the upgrading of sheds to include heating, lighting, entertainment systems and such, is having an effect on that."

Across Dunfermline's three wards, Central, South and North, there were 19 non-domestic fires in 2020-21.

The previous year there were 18.