AFTER years of not being able to park in their own street, residents in Dunfermline will be taking part in a Fife Council "experiment".

The redevelopment of the old Pilmuir Works at the top of Foundry Street has been going on for years with locals complaining that works vans have been taking up all the spaces.

Residents trying to unload shopping or get their young children into the car have been forced to park several streets away in a situation a senior councillor previously described as "hell on earth".

At the City of Dunfermline area committee last week Lesley Craig, from traffic management, said they wanted to try "experimental parking restrictions" for 18 months.

She said: "It's bringing in a three hour waiting limit outside the houses on the west end of Foundry Street.

"All of the residents are aware that a permit that will allow them to park all day is going to cost £20 and they will be allowed two permits per household.

"This doesn't ensure that they will get a parking space but it will ensure that there isn't all day parking because of the development further up the road."

She said the councillors would be able to decide, after the 18 months are up, if the restrictions are still required.

Cllr Gavin Ellis said it was "unacceptable" that some disabled residents in the street had to park in Campbell Street as they couldn't find a space in Foundry Street.

He added: "I'm very happy this is going ahead.

"It's been an ongoing issue for a number of years since the development was granted permission and started to be built."

Convener James Calder said it was "certainly quite an interesting proposal" and the committee approved the new restrictions.

In April 2022, the council's former area services manager for Dunfermline, Joe McGuinness, accused the local authority of "crass negligence" and claimed the situation with indiscriminate parking was so bad it was a "danger to life and limb" for pedestrians.

Cllr Helen Law, the committee convener at the time, had said: "It's only a few residents in the properties on the corner of Foundry Street but since the development started, it's been hell on earth for them."