Boat owners are making waves after blocking off half of the main car park in a village.
Tourists have found themselves unable to park in the seaside community of Lower Largo because of the vessels left languishing in Temple car park.
The village is popular with visitors due to its connection with Alexander Selkirk, who was supposedly the inspiration for Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe.
A statue of Selkirk stands in one of the main streets but tourists who want to look at it or visit the award-winning beach have been entering the car park before turning round and heading straight back out due to a lack of space.
Councillor Tom Adams has now called on boat owners to move their property to a more suitable location and has urged Fife Council to slap “lift them or lose them” notices on them.
“The car park has become a dumping ground for boats,” he said.
“Some of them have been lying there for up to 10 years and nobody wants to take ownership of them.
“I want the council’s transportation service to do something about it because we’re losing visitors.”
Mr Adams sat outside the car park for three hours on Friday to assess the situation.
“The amount of people who had to turn around and leave because there wasn’t a space due to the boats was unbelievable,” he said.
“I can understand boats being there in the winter but in the summer there shouldn’t be any boats.
“They should be in the water.”
The councillor has spoken to residents about the problem and has found support for his stance.
“There are at least 10 boats taking up around 20 car parking spaces,” he said.
“There are only about 40 spaces in total. I spoke to someone who said only two of the boats belong to local people. The rest are from elsewhere and just seem to have been left.”
Fife Council confirmed it would be happy to speak to the community about the issue which, it said, was a historical one.
Tony McRae, lead professional in transportation, said: “Although there is no formal agreement with boat owners to park their boats in the Temple car park in Lower Largo, boats have historically been parked on the north and west edges.
“The car park has a loose surface and has no lined parking bays.
“We are not aware of any car parking capacity problems but we have had previous discussions with the community council and local councillors about the combined use of the car park by cars and boats.
“We are happy to discuss any issues and take on board the views of the local community.”