By Leeza Clark

A SECOND asbestos scare has hit homes in west Fife.

Fife Council is contacting council tenants and private home owners in two Dunfermline streets after routine surveys showed they may have old-style asbestos clad water tanks in the attic spaces of the properties.

The matter came to light when surveys were being carried out on 53 local authority-owned properties in Abbeyview’s Wedderburn Crescent and Wedderburn Street area in advance of the installation of new boiler and central heating systems.

There are 149 privately owned properties in the same area.

Head of housing Derek Muir stressed it was perfectly safe for people to carry on living in their homes.

“Asbestos in its many forms is generally safe until it is disturbed,” he said.

However, he added precautions in council homes were being taken—“as an extra step until the new water tanks are replaced, the attic areas of our properties will be sealed off.

“If a problem should arise with the heating or plumbing before the new system can be installed then we have specialist contractors on hand who will do this work.

“The tanks and attic spaces will be cleared out by specialist contractors prior to the new heating systems being installed.

“In the majority of cases this should take only a day,” he added.

Mr Muir said the council was advising the private households that they may need to get the asbestos removed from their properties and will be supplying details of how to identify and appoint contractors to do this.

Councillor Brian Goodall, chairman of Fife Council’s housing and communities committee, added, “We are committed to improving the standard of our housing stock.

“Replacing the heating systems and removing old hot water tanks is an important part of that.

“I am confident the works will be carried out with the minimum disruption to tenants who will be kept fully up to date about the progress and what is involved.”

However, the latest discovery is eerily similar to that in Fraser Avenue, Inverkeithing, last December.

The asbestos scare led to six households losing most of their possessions and being decanted into temporary accommodation just before Christmas.

It was while contractors were removing a water tank that potentially dangerous brown asbestos was dislodged into the stairwell of a block in November.

Six households were decanted into temporary accommodation and nearly everything they owned had to be destroyed to prevent contact with asbestos fibres.

None of the residents affected are going back to their former homes.

Councillor Mike Rumney said, “Apart from council properties and owner occupiers, there are a number of Fife Housing Association tenants who could possibly be affected here.

“I have been advised by Fife Housing Association that their houses are clear but I think it’s only fair everyone in these properties are advised of the problem because these are old people we’re talking about here.”