A notorious Fife road has again been branded the worst in Scotland.
The A909, running from Kelty to Burntisland, has made it into the top 10 of “persistently high risk” rural roads in Britain in a survey compiled by the Road Safety Foundation.
Data showed there were 20 fatal or serious crashes along the nine-mile single carriageway road between 2012 and 2017.
But the report did acknowledge years of work in Scotland was delivering results and its main road network is safer than those in England and Wales.
Fife Council’s environment, protective services and community safety convener, SNP councillor Ross Vettraino, said the local authority had raised concerns about the methodology used by the charity as it was based on comparing rural roads when the A909 includes Cowdenbeath High Street.
“Therefore like is not being compared with like,” he said.
Local Conservative councillors called the news was deeply concerning.
Burntisland, Kinghorn and Western Kirkcaldy councillor Kathleen Leslie said she avoids the route whenever possible.
“There are some drivers who blatantly ignore the speed limit on a twisty road with many blind corners,” she said.
“I have had residents in Burntisland complain about the speed, particularly late in the evening, of drivers approaching the town from it.
“It is particularly concerning, but somewhat unsurprising, to see it feature again as one of Britain’s most dangerous roads.”
Cowdenbeath councillor Darren Watt appealed to drivers to heed the conditions, be vigilant and use extra caution.
He called on agencies and authorities to give the road immediate attention.
“We need to see a multi-prong approach and collective responsibility to ensure we minimise the number of accidents and incidents,” said.
“We must also assess our approach to driver education.”
Mr Vettraino stressed the council takes road safety very seriously and could demonstrate record low numbers of crashes and casualties on the kingdom’s road over recent years.
Since 2015 the council had shown “a consistent record” of overall crash reduction, including minor incidents, on the road, down from 13 in 2015 to 10 in 2017 and only four in 2018.
He added improvements had been made to the A909, including upgrading signs and lines and improving the road surface.
A Police Scotland spokesman said: “Casualty reduction on our roads remains one of Police Scotland’s top priorities and on a daily basis we conduct patrols on our road networks.
“We also target specific roads based on information we receive from communities about issues, such as speeding
“In addition, we support a range of driver safety initiatives, aimed at promoting responsible behaviour while behind the wheel.
“We welcome any discussions with relevant partners in relation to improving road safety.”
