Fife's head of transportation, Dr Bob McLellan, told members of the environment, enterprise and transportation committee last Thursday that the local authority had additional funding to be spent on improving flood prevention measures in line with new legislation.

Under the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act introduced in 2009, local authorities have much greater responsibilities in terms of reducing flood risk.

Dr McLellan said that several major operations had already been carried out, including clearance and modifications to culvert screens at the Lady Burn, Cupar, while flood risk studies were being done in areas known to be prone to be flooding.

These included the River Eden and Lady Burn in Cupar and the Kinness Burn in St Andrews.

In addition, improvements were being implemented at the Lady Burn and at Freuchie Mill, Freuchie, where homes were devastated by floods in August 2008.

The new legislation also requires local authorities to publish reports every two years outlining the flood alleviation measures that have been put in place.

Read more in this week's Fife Herald.