Peace has been broken in a quiet seaside village by a row that has divided its community council.
The picturesque haven of Crail saw a series of resignations in its civic body because of a clash between office bearers.
The spat resulted in the chairman of 18 years Jack Jarvis standing down, followed by two of his supporters, David Hobbs and Moira Kay.
Secretary Peter Salkeld also stepped down from his post and it is understood a further two community councillors indicated they would leave during the period of unrest.
One community councillor had posted a derogatory comment about a resident on Facebook, which further fuelled the furore, and it was claimed that a communication was then circulated amid only some members, marked as secret.
Former chairman Jack Jarvis, who confirmed he had turned his back on the organisation after almost two decades of public service, said: “There has been considerable unrest in Crail about the behaviour of the community council.
“There were a number of resignations as a result of awareness that people did not have the support of the community council.
“Others have resigned because they were unhappy with the direction in which the community council was travelling and that it did not reflect the aspirations of the people of Crail.”
Mr Jarvis and Mr Salkeld were at the centre of the dispute due to what was described as a personality clash.
Even after Mr Salkeld’s resignation, Mr Jarvis, who also chairs Crail Community Trust, insisted he would not return.
He said: “I don’t think it would be appropriate for me to go back. I’m focusing on the trust and doing other things around Crail.”
Mr Salkeld declined to comment.
Acting chairman Ronnie Webster told The Courier the issue had been resolved and the community council wants to concentrate on serving the village.
He said: “It was a personality clash between two people and now they have both resigned. We have to move on.”
The community council was constituted in 2010 to represent the village.
As there were only 10 nominations, no election was held.