A £1.78m fund has been awarded to Fife Council to help tackle vacant and derelict land in the area. The money means that, from 2015, the area will be able to access the Scottish Government's Vacant and Derelict land fund for the first time.

Despite having the fourth largest area of vacant land in Scotland, Fife has previously been turned down for the fund.

Welcoming the news, Depute Council Leader Lesley Laird said: "This is great news for Fife and I'm glad the work the council has done on this has paid off.

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"We knew that we had a strong case to make in terms of gaining access to this fund. I was more than happy to push the case for Fife and am pleased that the merits of our argument won through and we can now start to assess the best way in which to utilise this money.

"This work is key to helping us have an accurate picture of vacant and derelict land in Fife. We want to ensure that local communities are involved in helping us as their insight and local knowledge is invaluable.

"By doing this work it means that we will have the most up-to-date information. This helps us to continue to make the best case possible for Fife when any future grants or funding becomes available."

(JP/IT)