Despite the horrendous weather of the past three weeks, the Council says it has provided a waste collection service to over 90 per cent of householders in the Kingdom.

Householders living in areas where it continues to be too dangerous for the bin truck to access their streets due to ice and snow are now being offered a variety of ways to dispose of their waste.

Councillor Ross Vettraino, Vice-chair of Fife Council's Environment, Enterprise and Transportation Committee, said: "As these extreme weather conditions show no signs of easing it's vital that the Council uses all its initiative and resources to provide vital services.

"The collection crews have pulled out all the stops to provide a service to over 90 per cent of householders. Safety always comes first and where it may be compromised we have unfortunately not been able to access some streets.

"Already we are seeing crews reach areas that have been inaccessible for the past few weeks. Only this morning crews finally managed to empty all the bins in Saline, West Fife and we expect to reach even more areas next week." He added: "Householders have been extremely patient and we thank them for their cooperation. I'm confident that the additional services put in place will help ease the situation for those affected householders'.