Police blocked the road to a Fife beach after hundreds of sunseekers flocked to the coast.
Visitors were turned away from Silver Sands beach in Aberdour with roads expected to be closed throughout Thursday afternoon.
The fields adjacent to the beach car park were also opened for parking to ease congestion.
Officers stopped traffic from accessing the beauty spot at Hawkcraig Road.
Fife Council admitted it was “caught out” by the timing of the school holidays this year.
Courier reporter Neil Henderson was in Aberdour to see the chaos first-hand during the hottest day of the year so far.
He said: “Police have blocked off all access to vehicles via the main Hawkcraig Road access to Silver Sands beach.
“Several police cars and vans have been parked at Hawkcraig Road at the junction with Main Street.
“Officers are now manning a road block with a continuous succession of cars being turned away.
“Vehicles coming away from the beach area are being allowed to exit in a bid to reduce the parking chaos currently being experienced closer to the beach area.
“Elsewhere in Aberdour, there isn’t a parking place to be found with many cars being left in side streets as beachgoers head to the coast on foot.
“Crowds of sunseeking teenagers have been arriving all afternoon, all heading in the direction of Silver Sands beach.
“One officer said the traffic measures are likely to be in place for ‘some time yet’.”
Visitors turned away from Fife beauty spot as sunseekers flock to beach
Councillor David Barratt, who represents the area, was helping with traffic management at the beach.
He said emergency services had struggled to access the area due to the high volume of visitors.
He posted on Facebook: “Despite all the planning and anticipating high numbers, it is a complete mess, with thousands descending on the village and the Council appearing to be completely unprepared.
“I’ve had the police on the phone to me asking how to open the overflow car park and it transpires that the lease covering the management of the car park at Silver Sands doesn’t kick in until Easter.
“I’ve been on the phone with Fife Coast and Countryside Trust and they are mobilising staff to try and bring the situation under control.
“This is not their job and I’m very grateful for them being able to respond to this.
“The police are on-site and have been directed to break the padlocks into the overflow area to assist in managing the number of cars abandoning on the road and the gridlock that is resulting.
“Hawkcraig Road has been closed to prevent more arriving for now.
“This situation is simply not good enough and while the Council is in the process of developing planned investment to better manage Silver Sands, this should not have happened.”
Scott Clelland, Fife Council’s grounds maintenance service manager, said: “Usually this car park is closed until Easter when it is opened and operated by a private leaseholder for the summer season.
“We have been caught out by the school holidays occurring earlier this year and apologise to disappointed visitors and residents who have been affected.
“Access to the car park will remain for the rest of the holidays and we have made contact with the leaseholder to confirm that they can begin operating earlier than originally planned.”
Conversation