Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Fife residents using Christmas lights to guide them amid six-week streetlight blackout

The Methil householders claim ScottishPower is ignoring the issue despite being fined thousands of pounds for missing repair targets.

Methil Councillor John O'Brien.
Methil Councillor John O'Brien. Image: Kenny Smith/DC Thomson

Residents of a Fife street have been left in the dark for six weeks following a streetlight fault.

People living in Bayview Crescent in Methil are finding their way home at night by the lights from their neighbours’ Christmas decorations.

Bayview Crescent, Methil, where streetlights have been broken for weeks
Bayview Crescent, Methil, where streetlights have been broken for weeks. Image: Kenny Smith/DC Thomson

But one disabled woman says she is too frightened to leave her house in case she falls.

And home carers visiting clients in the dark street fear they are at risk.

Resident Ailsa Wilson reported the issue to ScottishPower on November 9 but repairs are unlikely to be carried out until January.

It is one of 60 ScottishPower faults across Fife, many of which have been ongoing for several months.

And Fife Council is said to be angry at the lack of action from the utility company, which is having to shell out thousands of pounds in fines as a result.

‘An accident waiting to happen’

Ms Wilson described her Methil street as “absolutely pitch black” in the evenings.

“My neighbour is kind enough to leave his Christmas lights on 24/7 to help out, which is great of him.

“But before they went up, I couldn’t go out after 4pm because I was too scared.”

Ms Wilson, who walks with a stick, added: “One time I was coming home and didn’t see the edge of the kerb. I almost fell.

“It’s an accident waiting to happen.”

The householder accused Fife Council and ScottishPower of blaming each other.

And she said: “They’re passing the buck back and forward and no-one is taking responsibility.”

Methil streetlights issue ‘not good enough’

SNP councillor John O’Brien is also angry at the situation, which he described as appalling.

And he said: “These people are paying their council tax but they’re not getting a service.

Mr O'Brien, who is pushing for action on residents' behalf.
Mr O’Brien, who is pushing for action to repair the Methil streetlights. Image: Kenny Smith/DC Thomson

“This is not good enough from ScottishPower.”

The firm is fined for every repairs target missed and is currently paying Fife Council many thousands of pounds per quarter.

And Mr O’Brien added: “They would be cheaper fixing the faults than paying the council thousands of pounds in fines.”

Bayview Crescent in Methil is one of a number of areas where the streetlights are powered by ScottishPower cables.

Apology as outstanding faults reported across Fife

The council’s roads maintenance manager Bill Liddle confirmed: “At the moment we have around 60 outstanding ScottishPower faults across Fife.

“The majority of these are single street lights.

“Underground cable faults can take more time to fix and we are in discussion with ScottishPower on the time it is taking to repair these faults on the street lighting network.

“Fines are payable to the council if target dates are not met.

“We will continue to press for any outstanding work to be completed as soon as possible.”

Meanwhile, ScottishPower has apologised for the situation.

Repairs to continue throughout festive period

A spokesperson for the firm’s network operator SP Energy Networks said: “We’re sorry for the inconvenience caused and appreciate the impact this has had on residents.

“We’ve arranged a street lighting repair programme as a priority, which will continue throughout the festive period.

“We expect to have these repairs complete by early next year and thank customers for their patience while we work hard to repair these faults as quickly and efficiently as possible.”

Conversation