DALGETY BAY councillor Alice McGarry has accused the Ministry of Defence of "squirming like worms on hooks" to avoid taking responsibility for the radiation pollution in the West Fife town.

She also thanked the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) for their "dedication" in trying to bring the issue to a close.

Her comments came in light of a meeting of Fife Council's South West Fife area committee meeting where it was unanimously agreed that the committee would call on the MoD to come forward with "immediate remediation options" for the area in Dalgety Bay affected by the Radium 226 contamination.

The committee also expressed their disappointment claiming that the organisation was not facing up to its reponsibility as the polluter.

Councillor McGarry commented, "The situation at Dalgety Bay has gone on for long enough without effective action by the polluters to clean it up.

"The MoD have to face up to their responsibilities instead of squirming like worms on hooks to avoid these.

"It is thanks to the hard work and dedication of SEPA that we are hopefully now reaching an end point in this long saga." SNP councillor Douglas Chapman added, "The South West Fife area committee has a role to play in holding the MoD to account and I welcome the unanimous support of the area committee for our proposal." The committee also noted the continuing non-attendance of the MoD at briefings and requested that the council debate the issue to add support to calls for the MoD to take action.