A SUSPECTED spillage from works on the Forth Bridge has caused damage estimated at "hundreds of thousands of pounds" to cars parked in the village below.

Keith Macintosh, who lives in East Bay in North Queensferry, claimed up to 20 vehicles were splattered with an unknown substance last Wednesday afternoon.

An investigation is under way to establish if the material did come from the works but he insists he is in no doubt about the source.

Mr Macintosh said: "There's been a spillage that Balfour Beatty are trying to keep quiet.

"Some time in the afternoon, they said they were cleaning pipes on the bridge, where they're blasting off the old paintwork, and some kind of compound has been blown on everyone's cars and houses.

"My wife's black Range Rover, which is brand new, is covered in white speckles. It's even pitted the glass.

"It was washed but you can't get the marks off and if you try to scrape it with your finger, it just scratches the car.

"My son lives in the same street and his car was damaged too.

"Stevie only got a new car on the Monday, it had £1,500 worth of a special ceramic polish and whatever it is it's eaten through that."

Mr Macintosh, the chairman of SRJ Windows, continued: "It's a quiet street and a lot of people here have some nice cars, I'd say 15-20 have been affected.

"It must be hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of cars that have been damaged.

"It's like a chemical. Balfour Beatty were down here but they won't say what it is.

"The day it happened, two boys in orange dungarees with polish and a rag were in the street, knocking on doors, offering to try and get it out with T-cut.

"They used T-cut on the neighbour's car and then came back to do it again and it still hasn't got rid of it."

Network Rail's £7.5 million project to refurbish and repaint the North Queensferry approach span to the bridge began in December last year.

Balfour Beatty are the contractor and the work includes grit-blasting layers of old paint off the steelwork to allow inspections to take place and the metal to be repaired and repainted.

The project also includes other maintenance and improvement works and, in total, it is expected to last four years.

Mr Macintosh said: "I think it must be a chemical of some description, maybe an abrasive for getting paint off the bridge, there's been a gust of wind or a blowout and it has showered the street.

"Whatever has happened, it's damaged a lot of properties and vehicles.

"Balfour Beatty seem to be taking no ownership of it. A manager accepted responsibility but all of a sudden he's not allowed to speak to us.

"My son got a text from him saying he can't deal with it anymore and included an email address for someone at Network Rail to complain to.

"We all have problems in business at some stage, you just have to put the fire out, make sure the customer is happy and then work out who's to blame, but when they start clamming up you start to wonder."

He added: "I just want to know what it is. You can't wash it off, you need a compound or something, but until they say what it is I don't know what to use.

"I'm not going to use T-cut on a brand-new car."

Several residents have now complained and a Network Rail spokesperson said: “We are aware of the incident and are investigating the matter.”