A WEST Fife councillor has hit back at claims that SNP members are "absent from duty" until a photo opportunity arises.

The original comments were made by ex-Dunfermline Central Labour representative Garry Haldane in a letter to the Press outlining his thoughts on changes which will see pay rises for councillors across the country.

Now Inverkeithing and Dalgety Bay SNP councillor David Barratt has delivered a furious response to Mr Haldane's comments.

Posting on Facebook, councillor Barratt said: "Complaining that you’re not paid enough is never a good look for a politician, or ex-politician as is the case here thanks to the voters of Dunfermline.

"However, ignoring that for a moment his assertion that “across Fife” it is Labour Councillors that do all the work and that SNP Councillors are “absent from duty, until a photo opportunity” arises, is a piece of fantasy from a clearly bitter ex-councillor, rejected by voters.

"I would hope those I represent can see he is plainly wrong."

READ MORE: Ex-councillor highlights concerns over 'uneven' workloads and pay

Mr Haldane's original letter highlighted "unfair" councillor wages claiming he was "exceptionally busy" during his term while others were not so.

He stated: "The amount of community work undertaken depended heavily on the individual councillor. I was exceptionally busy, while others, who were paid the same, were not.

"This was evident across Fife, where the SNP councillors were often absent from duty, until a photo opportunity arose."

But Cllr Barratt said having looked at committee attendance since the last election, he believed the Labour Group were the "worst performing in terms of attendance" on nearly every council committee.

READ MORE: Driving instructor reveals how to tackle notorious city roundabout

"Looking at the committees I chair, Labour make up 30 per cent of the members of the Planning Appeals Committee, but make up just 11 per cent of the attendance," he said.

"Hardly pulling their weight! On the Central and West Planning Committee, they have the poorest average attendance of any group at 72 per cent compared to 86 per cent for the SNP.

"On the Environment Scrutiny Committee, Labour attendance sits at 70 per cent compared to the SNP’s 97 per cent. On People and Communities it’s 80 per cent vs 96 per cent, on Standards, Audit and Risk it’s 71 per cent vs 96 per cent. On Finance it’s 82 per cent vs 94 per cent.

"Most of a good councillor’s work goes unpublicised as it relates to confidential constituent case work. Good councillors from every party inevitably end up with more case work as they are seen as someone to go to.

"Every group has hard working councillors and my group is no different. Former Cllr Haldane is obviously a bit of a martyr, but perhaps he should reflect more on why he didn’t get re-elected rather than making baseless assertions about hard-working councillors."