A £1 million revamp of Kirkcaldy High Street has been hit by a further four month delay after contractors warned they were running out of vital materials.
Astonished councillors say they are bitterly disappointed after being told by Land Engineering that the work at the west end of the High Street will now not be completed until November.
Council leader David Ross said the local authority had been “badly let down”.
While officials have insisted that everything possible should be done to minimise the impact of the delay on local businesses, worried traders have hit out at the latest setback to befall the beleaguered works.
Sharon Wood, owner of children’s clothes shop Only Kiddin’, said: “The council will get compensation for this but what about the businesses that will have put up with this disruption for 11 months by the time it’s finished?
“We should each be given a month’s rent to make up for it.”
Nedim Ozkam from nearby Phone Fix said business had been terrible since the diggers had moved in in January.
“I’m just sitting here waiting for people to come in but customers can’t get parked out there and it’s difficult to walk along the pavement,” he said.
“We’re paying rent and all the bills but we’re not making money.”
The street’s west end was left out of a multi-million pound project in 2010 that saw the rest of the shopping area transformed.
It would have been the third and final phase of a major improvement plan but a wrangle with contractors saw it stall.
It finally started in January and was due to finish in July but it was announced a fortnight ago it was five weeks behind schedule.
Councillor Ross said: “I’m bitterly disappointed to hear of this further delay in the completion of the project. We’ve been badly let down by the contractor.”
He added: “We hope the current work to create additional on-street parking and new footways will be completed and that the west end of the High Street can be opened up again while the contractors move on to other parts of the project.”
Over the next month the parking areas along the High Street and footpaths from Olympia Arcade to Tony’s Takeaway will be completed.
This will leave the junctions at Nicol Street and Charlotte Street/Whytehouse Avenue unfinished.
A spokeswoman for Land Engineering said the company could not comment due to contractual obligations.
