They have been accused of failing to have a proper action plan to deal with the extreme weather, which resulted in disruption for almost four weeks.

At the monthly meeting of Cupar Community Council, hopes were expressed that 'lessons had been learned' from the experience.

One of the three local Fife councillors, Roger Guy, said he would be putting forward a series of proposals to the local authority this week that he wanted to see implemented should the same thing happen again.

He said that there should have been twice-daily meetings at director level followed up by press releases; that the salt situation should have been properly assessed and that Fife should have followed the lead of other local authorities by having an arrangement with local farmers to help clear snow and ice.

Councillor Margaret Kennedy also accused senior council officials for being 'invisible' during the weather crisis and said that frontline council workers had been subjected to abuse by some people, when they were simply following orders.

A full report on the handling of the situation will be presented to next month's meeting of the council's environment, enterprise and transportation committee.

In the meantime, Dr Bob McLellan, head of transportation services, told the Fife Herald: "It's now known that we have experienced one of the most prolonged and severe weather periods in over 30 years.

"While many people were enjoying the festive break, our workforce worked night and day to keep the main roads of Fife moving, but the intensity of the weather meant we were unable to move into residential streets as quickly as we'd hoped.

"Notwithstanding last year's review of the policy, a detailed review of all winter maintenance activities is going to be carried out by the council which will examine all areas of council services affected by the severe weather including road and footway gritting, services to vulnerable people, bin collections and school and facility closures."

Read more in the Fife Herald.