Mr Smith was speaking during a debate in the Scottish Parliament last Thursday called by Conservative MSP Ted Brocklebank.

Mr Brocklebank has consistently campaigned for a new school in the area, amid claims that the proposed new Madras College in St Andrews will not be big enough and that some 850 pupils face long bus journeys into school each day, to the detriment of their education.

In the case of children from Balmerino and Gauldry, Mr Brocklebank says the journey can take up to 90 minutes each way, with the taxpayer picking up the annual £1 million tab for transportation.

Mr Brocklebank, who represents Mid Scotland and Fife, accused Mr Smith of 'having the consistency of a blancmange' on the issue, having campaigned for a new secondary school for Tay Bridgehead in two Scottish parliamentary elections, then changing his mind when his fellow Liberal Democrats formed a coalition with the SNP on Fife Council and ruled out the idea.

The decision was based on predictions of falling school rolls, but a leaked Liberal Democrat memo later showed that the projections were flawed, and according to Mr Brocklebank the new Madras could be over-capacity before it's even built.

Mr Brocklebank said: "It would be the height of folly for the council to proceed with its present plans for a 1342 pupil single-site school in St Andrews if — as seems to be virtually certain — its pupil roll projections prove within a decade to be hopelessly inaccurate.

"What north east Fife parents should be telling Fife Council in no uncertain terms is that we require not one but two single site schools of around 1000 pupils each, one to replace Madras and the other at the bridgehead."

Mr Smith conceded that two years ago he had taken the view that there was a strong case for considering two new schools, but that school rolls were beginning to decline and that the roll of a new Tay Bridgehead would be unlikely to ever reach 600.

"It is generally accepted that a secondary school of such a size would struggle to provide an adequate range of curriculum options and to sustain a satisfactory fifth and sixth year cohort," he said.

"Furthermore, parental choice would be likely to mean that the number in the bridgehead continued to drop as the prospect of a new Madras with a larger curriculum became a greater draw.

"A new Tay Bridgehead school would reduce rather than enhance the education opportunities for children in the area.

"I refuse to play politics with pupils' futures, and I cannot continue to support an option that will not provide children in my constituency with the best possible education."

Meanwhile, talks are taking place between Fife Council and St Andrews University about the possibility of locating a new Madras school to the west of St Andrews and a report is being prepared for the local authority's education and children's services committee.