IT’S rare that a town celebrates not winning something but this is the case after Lochgelly lost out to Aberdeen in the 2015 ‘Plook on the Plinth Carbuncle’ award.

The ‘award’ was established by Urban Realm magazine 15 years ago in order to provoke debate and highlight failing or deprived towns and cities across Scotland.

Having been nominated five years ago, Lochgelly was again keen to avoid receiving the unwanted ‘Carbuncle’ trophy and the relief when Aberdeen won this year’s title was clear when the Central Fife Times spoke to local councillor Ian Chisholm.

Ian said, “I am absolutely delighted that Lochgelly did not win. It was unjustified. This is the second nomination it has had and I hope there will be no more. It is clear that the judges have looked at Lochgelly over the years and twice is quite enough.

“Honestly, I think it’s a case of lazy research. The town has had a bad name in the past but it is a great wee place to live in now. A lot has been done to improve the town. The Centre got a multi-million pound refurbishment a few years ago, there’s been school extensions and lots of work in the old Town House. It is assumed to be a safe town.

“People in Lochgelly are offended by it and take it personally – it’s to get publicity for the magazine.” Lochgelly’s nomination on the Urban Realm website came from a ‘fed up Lochgellian’ who bemoaned the town’s ‘deprivation, high teenage pregnancy rates and abundance of wind farms’.