Members of the area committee have agreed that a funding package should now be sought to ensure the project can be carried out in full.

The changes will focus on the busy junctions at the Mercat Cross, the war memorial and East Burnside, all of which have provoked the ire of motorists in recent years.

However, a number of councillors cautioned that previous schemes promising to improve Cupar's congestion problem have failed to deliver.

Dave Frew, Fife Council's transport planning team leader, told the area committee that half of the project's £1.6m costs had already been secured through the transportation budget, with the remainder still to be raised.

He said a report would go to the environment, enterprise and transportation committee in March showing how the full funding package could be brought together.

It is thought that the work will take around 40 weeks to complete, starting after July's Open Golf Championship in St Andrews.

Plans released in December outlined the full extent of the scheme, which will include the removal of traffic lights at the Mercat Cross, the war memorial and East Burnside.

These will be replaced by give-way junctions and pedestrian-controlled crossings, while the Mercat Cross itself will be relocated.

Crucial to the plans is Fife Council's proposed purchase of the old ATS garage and adjoining Paterson Bell building, which will allow the east end of St Catherine Street to be widened.

Read more in the Fife Herald.