Dalgety Bay: £15m clean-up of foreshore to finish this summer

But local councillors have been reassured that the Ministry of Defence's £15 million project to clean-up the contamination will make the area safe.

The pollution was discovered in 1990 and the late-running remedial work by Balfour Beatty that's now due to be completed in July or August will mean the end of the saga is finally in sight.

At the South and West Fife area committee last week, the MoD's Stephen Ritchie said that, prior to work re-starting last month, contractors found "one or maybe two contaminant particles on the surface of the areas" that had been completed last year.

He added: "This follows on from last year which was the same so it would appear, at this stage, the work we're carrying out is fairly positive and indicates there's nothing else getting washed up from somewhere else, which is good."

However, Cllr Brian Goodall said: "Even one or two particles is a concern. If they were to enter the food chain they could have devastating consequences."

Mr Ritchie interrupted him and said: "There is some misconceptions there. The level of contamination that was shown on the surface is grossly different from what it was previously.

"As I said, it's an indication that the work we're carrying out is positive.

"I didn't suggest for a minute that it was a success. It won't be a success until we're finished."

Mark Toner, from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, added: "It is simply not possible to remove every last becquerel from the beach due to the nature of radiation monitoring.

"The contractors are working to a criteria of removing particles that have a realistic risk to human health and that has been set at 20 kilobecquerels.

"But the finds that they have actually been removing have been significantly lower than this."

He said that more than 3,500 radioactive particles – some giving very high readings – have been removed over the last decade from the foreshore, nearby gardens and around the sailing club.

After the work is completed, Sepa expects there will be "no more particles being released into the environment".

As well as excavating parts of the beach and removing radioactive particles, the work includes replacing rock armour and installing a new slipway for Dalgety Bay Sailing Club.

Areas that have been cleared will see fences removed although signs will remain in place to "provide advice to beach users".

Mr Ritchie added: "We're confident that by late summer we will be completing the works and taking down the fences.

"We've still got some minor works to do away from the foreshore which were agreed as part of the compensation package with the sailing club."

He said a licence to dispose of radioactive material was one of the "loose ends" to be tidied up between the contractor and Sepa.

MoD contractors will monitor the beach area for a further two years and after that time Sepa will take over, albeit at a reduced frequency.

Sepa said the signs would likely be removed at this point, with Dalgety Bay Community Trust interested in putting them on display at a later date as part of the town's history.

The clean-up was due to be completed last year and last month it was confirmed the project costs had increased by around 50 per cent, from an estimated £10.5m to more than £15m.

Committee convener Cllr David Barratt said: "Locals will be glad to see this coming to some kind of a conclusion after so many years of it being an issue and the campaign to get anyone to take responsibility for it."

The pollution is a legacy from the Second World War as plane dials were coated with a luminous paint – to enable airmen to read the instruments at night –.that contained radium -226.

Unfortunately this was a time when the dangers of radiation poisoning were not fully known and the old aircraft was broken up and burned at Donibristle in the 1950s, with the ash and clinker dumped along the foreshore.