HOW do you solve a problem like a pothole?

According to one disgruntled West Fife councillor, steps include "a few angry emails" and a complaint to some of Fife Council's top officials.

Cllr David Barratt, who represents the Inverkeithing and Dalgety Bay ward, has listed the several stages he passed through in order for a crew to be arranged to repair a fault which had been causing trouble for more than three months.

The crater on Boreland Road in Inverkeithing has now been filled, but Cllr Barratt says the experience has left him with "no faith" in the current reporting system.

Cllr Barratt said: "I was sticking with it, we first identified it because there was another really bad pothole further up on Boreland Road. Cllr Sarah Neal and I went for a walk to make sure everything was reported, so that if they were coming to do stuff they could do more at the same time.

"We reported them all and got that one fairly early on when it was relatively minor, but within weeks it was getting bigger and bigger and the council didn't seem capable of doing anything about it.

"I think what we've done in the process is highlight that something in the council system isn't really working.

"The final straw was emailing Cllr Altany Craik (Spokesperson for Finance, Economy and Strategic Planning), and copying in all the senior managers.

"It took Altany to respond and copy in officers.

"Within three hours it was filled, but it shouldn't take going to that many people within senior levels at the council to get one pothole filled."

The steps taken by Cllr Barratt were listed as: multiple reports from members of the public over two to three-month period; multiple damaged cars; emails to an executive director, a head of service, a service manager, and a lead consultant; involvement from multiple councillors; a "complex" online reporting form; "a few angry emails"; a couple of council road workers with vans and a "few spades of asphalt".

The SNP representative added: "For the avoidance of doubt, there is, of course, zero criticism directed here at the council staff who finally got it done."

Cllr Craik said: "Members of the public are able to report road faults via Fife Council's website. In doing so there is an interactive map which identifies if the fault has already been reported.

"An email can be sent to the customer to acknowledge the fault reported. In response to the report, a Roads Inspector inspects the location and confirms the severity of the defect in accordance with Fife Council's Risk Based Assessment Policy.

"If classified as a safety defect it is given a Priority ranking between 1 and 4 and programmed to be repaired within the relevant timescale.

"In relation to the road defect on Boreland Road, Inverkeithing, this was confirmed as a P2 defect, which has a 5-day target repair period.

"In this particular case this time frame was not met due to unusually high levels of P2 faults and staff shortages.

"Steps have been taken to ensure sufficient resources are available in future to meet these deadlines."