LOCHS councillor Alex Campbell this week challenged Fife Council's chief executive to hold an investigation into why the roof of the three year-old Benarty Centre has developed a series of leaks.

The management committee of the £4m facility in Ballingry's Flockhouse Avenue are working with the the local authority on how the problems caused can be tackled.

Councillor Campbell informed the Times this week that he had written to chief executive Steve Grimmond requesting an enquiry into the condition of the roof as its only three years old and people are being turned away after making bookings.

He said on Monday: "This is something which has developed over the past few months but it is now a serious worry.

"It is affecting areas such as the games hall and the library area and it is something you do not expect of a three year-old building.

"To have people coming to use the facilities and having to be turned away because it is raining and the roof is leaking is just not right.

"There appears to be more than one leak as several areas are being affected by the problems.

"Yes the weather has been extremely wet but we really should not have water coming through the roof of a building of this age."

He added: "Someone or some people have to be held accountable for this. It is simply not good enough."

The Benarty Centre is one of Fife's biggest and most modern community centres and is home to a whole host of organisations from the villages of Ballingry, Lochore, Crosshill and Glencraig.

The games hall is particularly busy and clearly with high activity sports taking place there water on the floor has a big negative impact on usage.

The chairman of the Benarty Centre management committee is Mr Campbell's Lochs colleague Willie Clarke.

He said that the management committee had been concerned by the water penetration that had been experienced and they were working with the local authority on trying to find a solution to the problems being caused.

He said: "The weather we have experienced over the past few months has exposed the problems that have developed as the downpours have hit the area.

"It is not something we expected to have to tackle, that is for sure, but council officials are working at finding ways of sorting this problem which is affecting areas of the community centre."