A west Fife councillor said she felt recent incidents of teenagers plunging down dangerous cliff faces are down to youthful exuberance.
Alice McGarry, one of the representatives for Inverkeithing and Dalgety Bay, said she felt youngsters were attracted to the areas by the hot summer weather, and put their actions down to “boys being boys” and “girls being girls.”
She was speaking after Harry Hewitt (14), of Dalgety Bay, fell 20 feet and suffered two squashed vertebrae while scaling the rock face at Prestonhill Quarry, near Inverkeithing, on Saturday evening.
An 11-year-old girl from Carluke suffered head injuries on the same day after a fall on the chain walk near Elie. And last week a 16-year-old boy sustained serious head injuries when he fell 25 feet in Goat Quarry near Aberdour.
Councillor McGarry said she was glad no one was seriously hurt in the recent “spate” of incidents.
“Loads of kids go to the Prestonhill Quarry and sit and fish it just seems to be a situation where boys will be boys and girls will be girls … You hope there is not a situation where youngsters read about them and do the same once they see it in the newspapers.
“I read Mrs Hewitt’s comments on what had happened to her son and I totally agree with them. She had told her son not to do it and it is highly dangerous but boys will be boys. Lots of youngsters go to the likes of Prestonhill Quarry to jump into the water and it is dangerous, but it goes on all over the country. Many people get a huge amount of enjoyment from going there as it is near the Fife Coastal Path.
“Obviously I was aware of Saturday’s incident involving the 14-year-old and when you hear of these falls your heart is in your mouth. Harry Hewitt did suffer spinal injuries, but it could have been a lot worse.”
Locals have for some time criticised the clifftop area at Prestonhill for a lack of fencing, but the councillor felt this did not contribute to the recent incident.
“The 14-year-old was climbing from the bottom of the quarry so fencing would not have had an impact on this occasion,” she added.