THE concern expressed by Cowdenbeath's councillors regarding the state of North End Park is definitely justified.

On hearing the complaints made I paid a visit to have a look for myself and was completely shocked with what I was met with.

The once proud football pitch, where Cowdenbeath FC was first housed, is now a mixture of weeds and long grass plus the remnants of some small excavations clearly made to check out if there are any live mine workings underneath.

And the condition of the land around the pavilion is even worse with the vegetation knee deep.

Councillor Alistair Bain made the point that the new developers had made overtures that they were looking forward to getting two new retail outlets in situ at North End Park and were keen to keep the condition of the land up to a reasonable standard.

Well since the growing season got into full swing things have simply got worse and worse.

Unfortunately there is not a great deal the council can do about the current mess as it is the responsibility of the new owners of the land.

But the message that this eyesore sends out is a damaging one for Cowdenbeath.

The north end of the High Street has suffered badly over the past seven years since the fire that destroyed the Crown Hotel.

This has lain a rotting eyesore on the main road into the town and while a lot has been said and talked about how it could be removed or upgraded it still is there.

When the Tesco plans were lodged several years ago we all hoped that it would breathe new life into the north end of the High Street but now it is not even the status quo, the mess at North End Park makes things much worse.

Hopefully the new developers can be persuaded to at least tidy up this former sports hub in Cowdenbeath, for it was not just football that was played at the North End Park there was also greyhound racing.

North End Park needs a new lease of life sooner rather than later.