FIFE Council planners have given In-Site Property Solutions permission to demolish the former NCB Workshops in the town's Church Street.

The Workshops have been Thistle Industrial Estate over the past three decades, but In-Site feel that the almost 100 year-old properties have reached the end of their useful life.

When In-Site lodged their application to demolish the Workshops, an accompanying statement said: "All buildings were originally built for industrial proposes and all are, or will shortly become, vacant.

"Due to the deteriorating condition of the Estate, as recognised by Fife Council in its Fife Local Plan 2012, it is no longer economically viable or sustainable to continue investment in the buildings which are significantly beyond their useful life and are a considerable drain on limited resources.

"It is the intention to demolish all buildings on this site when they become vacant, as all are becoming economically unviable, beyond their life-span and there is insufficient demand to warrant the investment in the buildings to bring them to current standards".

The report added: "All arisings and debris will be cleared from the site and removed for onward recycling, where possible. Some units contain asbestos cement roofing sheets, and these will be removed and disposed of as per the required guidelines.

"It is considered that the removal of these buildings, and the making good of the cleared area of the site, will improve the visual amenity of the area, to the benefit of the nearby residents. There will, therefore, be a significant positive impact on the environment".

It had been hoped to start the work in June but due to the coronavirus crisis it will be done as soon as is practical.

The Workshops at times employed 1,000 people as coal dominated the town's economy and the closure occurred in the early 1990s as the deep mining industry shrunk.