AN INVERKEITHING resident says Fife Council could not have picked a more damaging time to spray weed killer on grass verges around the town.

Deborah Mitchell-Thain was horrified when she saw workers spraying the grassed areas last week and contacted the Press to express her anger.

"On all the grass verges in Inverkeithing and Crossgates, there's a plethora of dandelion. All the insects have just woken up and they couldn't have chosen a more perfect time to destroy the eco system – it goes against everything," she said.

"I was out this morning and they were spraying all the dandelions and killing it. I am baffled. I cannot believe the stupidity.

"They could not have picked a better time to kill everything that has just woken up. All the bees and wildlife. I don't get why it has to be done on the grass verges. But if you have to do it, don't do it as soon as these things wake up. At least wait until the end of May."

Deborah said she intentionally does not cut her grass until the end of May in order to protect wildlife.

"The council is destroying massive sways of food for these creatures which have just woken up," she added. "I am just stunned. Who made the decision clearly knows zero about this. They could not have picked a more damaging time."

Fife Council’s service manager for grounds maintenance Scott Clelland confirmed the council carries out a programme of weed spraying on pavements and hardstanding areas, targeting weeds to make sure pavements are maintained and in good condition.

Weather permitting, this continues until late summer.

“We don’t use weedkiller on our green open spaces and wherever we can we promote biodiversity across Fife’s many green spaces," he added.

"We have converted 700,000 M2 of amenity grass into grassland meadows to reduce CO2 produced from grass cutting machinery and to increase biodiversity in our urban spaces.

“We are working with Fife Coast and Countryside Trust to further develop a strategy designed to 'turbo boost' the wildlife value of grass areas in a selection of sites across Fife.

“We also encourage communities to do what they can in their local environments to promote biodiversity, and we would be happy to have a conversation with anyone interested in how we can help make further changes."