I TOTALLY agree with our letter writer who said that some of the criticism levelled at Fife Council during the visit from the Beast of the East was uncalled for.

It is true that it took time to get a grip of the awful conditions that were hitting the area, but the regularity of the snow showers and amounts coming down were so large that it was no easy task to battle these conditions.

When the weather is as bad as it was for a four day spell the priority routes simply have to be tackled first and it did mean that the housing estates had to wait.

There were, however, so many local heroes, as was talked about in these columns, and they certainly deserve the utmost praise for going out in hostile conditions and making things better for people.

No doubt what happened during these four or five days last week will bring many lessons for the authorities at various levels and it will be interesting if there are many improvements forthcoming in preparing for a similar situation in the future.