FIFE residents are being left in the dark due to issues which have seen a string of streets across the Kingdom without street lighting.

One street in Kelty – Keltyhill Avenue – has had lights out since the middle of November while Kinloss Court in High Valleyfield has also had lights out since the the end of that month.

Roads in Crossgates, Dunfermline, North Queensferry, Limekilns and Carnock have also been affected and SP Energy Networks say they are working on having repairs done by the Spring.

Fife Councillor Sean Dillon said a freedom of information request found that 77 streets across Fife are awaiting repairs to their faulty streetlights.

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He said discussions re ongoing with council officers which, it is hoped, will result in a significant improvement to current service levels.

“These are damning figures that highlight the failure of Scottish Power to provide an adequate service right across Fife," he said. "In my own ward, we have seen 10 streets left with faulty lights, the first being reported back in September. This is completely unacceptable, especially at this time of year when the nights are long and it is fundamentally an issue of public safety.

"Residents deserve to able to go out into well light streets.

"I urge council officers and Scottish Power to work collaboratively to ensure that these outstanding repairs are dealt with as soon as possible.

"While the appointment of a new subcontractor is a positive step, I imagine it will be some time before the residents of Fife see any real improvements.

"The figures only go to show the lack of investment by both the private and public sector in our public services and at the end of the day, it is the people of Fife that suffer as a result.”

A spokesperson for SP Energy Networks said: “Our teams are working hard to rectify faults affecting street lights and we would like to apologise to our customers for the delays in getting these repairs carried out.

"We have appointed an alternative contractor to support us on an ongoing programme of works to repair these faults and we expect to have the backlog completed by spring.”