The grit which is made up of crushed brown and pink rock salt appeared in shops throughout the Kingdom including in Leven and Methil last week coinciding with Fife Council temporarily running out of its own supplies.

The bags are marked up by six times their original price but some residents have purchased them feeling they have no choice in order to grit their paths and to help dig their cars out.

Angry at the morality of shopowners selling such small bags to members of their own communities, Cllr Young said: "It's diabolical.

"I weighed one of the bags on my kitchen scales and it only came to 1kg.

"It's no heavier than a bag of sugar and would not even fill an old fireside shovel – there is hardly enough in it to grit your own path."

Originally concerned the bags may be illegally made up of grit from Fife Council's yellow bins which are situated on some street corners the councillor contacted the police who told him they had checked with one shopowner who had receipts showing he purchased grit in bulk from an online supplier.

Cllr Young continued: "They may be selling it legitimately but it's obscene.

"I looked online and bags of 1000kg are on sale for £155 plus VAT; all they are doing is breaking these up into small bags.

"I can see where shops want to make a profit but to mark it up by so much is not on.

"A lot of older people will be going into these shops and buying it for their paths when, hopefully, soon enough Fife Council will have restocked the bins."

Cllr Young added he walked around Levenmouth with Cllr Tom Adams on New Years Day and both were "appalled" at the lack of gritting that had been carried out.

Cllr Adams called for an explanation.

He said: "It just isn't good enough to say that it is all down to a bad winter.

"Services need to get a bit of joined up working.

"I witnessed a lorry putting grit down on a main road only for a road sweeper to come in the other direction and sweep it up."