Mystery '˜explosion' heard on Fife coast

The incident happened at 8.50 am and was reported by workers and residents from Inverkeithing to Kirkcaldy, and even across the other side of the Forth in the Dalmeny and Cramond areas.

One witness said he heard the loud bang from Dalgety Bay: “It was clearly the sound of an explosion, rather than something being dropped or a car backfiring.

“Then there was a puff of smoke within the direction of the Inverkeithing docks area.

“It was loud. People stopped and turned around to see what it was.”

Wullie Ruffle was working at Barnbougle Castle, in the Dalmeny estate on the south side of the Forth, when he and a colleague heard a “roar” that lasted several seconds.

“It shook the foundations,” he said.

“All the seabirds rose as one. We rushed down to the waters edge. It was the loudest bang I’ve ever heard.”

Mr Ruffle, secretary at the Dalmeny Estate golf club, described the noise as coming from the direction of the Hound Point loading jetty, which lies upstream from the Forth bridges.

One woman making her way to work also reported hearing an “unusually loud bang” while waiting at a bus stop near Cramond Brig.

A spokesman for energy giant Ineos, which owns the facility, reported all operations at Hound Point were normal and said the incident had nothing to do with the site.

Police say that had received calls aksing about the noise, but did not know the source.