THERE will be a lot of the local former miners still living in the area who were involved on picket lines during the 1984-85 strike.

MSP Claire Baker is hoping that as much information as possible can be offered to the Review being carried out into the way the dispute was handled by the police force of the day.

There were strike committees in every local community who organised people to join picket lines locally and elsewhere in Scotland, and of course in June 1984 there were the stormy scenes at the Cartmore site in Lochgelly.

There were a number of arrests over the few days that the Yuill and Dodds lorries took opencast coal away to Longannet by a route which went through Benarty and via the Loch Leven road to the M90.

It was a time of real strain and there were some violent scenes at Cartmore and in Benarty.

For most of the time at Cartmore the atmosphere between the police and the pickets was good natured but clearly when the lorries were taking the coal from the site things became very strained.

No doubt the Review would welcome information on how the Cartmore picketing went and so Claire Baker is right that those involved that day should come forward and offer their views on how things went.

There were local men involved in the picket lines at Longannet, and also the road at Low Valleyfield as a lone working miner was escorted to the mine.

In general it was a really tense time and inevitably there were a number of incidents but the more information that can be gathered will assist the Review.

So if there are any people out there that took part in the various picket line actions they should give their views to the Review body.