The reason why a hole was dug inside the Glenrothes Shopping Centre has been revealed.
Shoppers were baffled when part of the Kingdom Shopping Centre was cordoned off by barriers on Monday morning.
Workers had dug up a large section of the floor inside the centre, and a “caution cleaning in progress” sign had been put in place.
The resulting mess led to speculation online that something valuable had been discovered beneath.
Scottish Water fixes burst mains pipe in Glenrothes Shopping Centre
Facebook page Discover Fife joked that the hole had been dug to search for treasure or a secret room.
While others suggested workers may have been looking for the holy grail.
However, the truth was less exciting, as the hole was dug to fix a burst water mains pipe running under the shopping centre.
Peter Beagley, manager of the Kingdom Shopping Centre, told The Courier a leak was first reported at the centre on Sunday afternoon.
Scottish Water attended the site overnight, and the fix was completed on Monday morning.
Peter explained engineers had “difficulty” accessing the pipe approximately six inches in diameter, hence why the floor had to be dug up.
Engineers fixed the issue outside opening hours to minimise disruption.
A Scottish Water spokesperson said: “We received reports of flooding within the Kingdom Shopping Centre and a subsequent investigation revealed there was a leak within the mains network.
“Operatives attended the site on Monday morning to carry out necessary repairs to the network, and reinstatement of the area will be carried out as soon as possible.
“Scottish Water apologises for any inconvenience caused.”
Conversation