THERE'S a reminder to local residents in Lochgelly that new parking restrictions will come in to force next week.

Double yellow lines at the junction of Grainger Street and Hall Street are part of the drive to improve road safety for pupils getting the bus to school.

With the new academic year about to begin and Lochgelly South Primary closed for a year for major refurbishment works, children from there will be taught at St Kenneth's RC Primary in Ballingry.

School buses will use a route collecting children on Melville Street and travelling along Minto Street, Russell Street, Melville Street, Hall Street and Grainger Street.

Central Fife Times: The parking restrictions have been driven by the closure, for a year, of Lochgelly South Primary School.Lochgelly South The parking restrictions have been driven by the closure, for a year, of Lochgelly South Primary School.Lochgelly South (Image: Newsquest)

Children who attend the Lochgelly South nursery will be hosted at the Sunflower Nursery in Lochgelly.

A Fife Council notice said the 'no waiting at any time' restrictions, part of a road traffic order they announced in April, will become operational from August 15 to coincide with the start of the new term.

A number of parking spaces for residents will be lost as a result.

Outlining the need for the changes, a report had explained: “The school transport team has reviewed the intended school bus route and conducted test runs using buses and have identified the Grainger Street / Hall Street junction as a location where parked vehicles will obstruct the school bus.

"This modest proposal will help to keep this junction free of parked vehicles to allow the school buses to complete this route."

Due to an increasing school roll, a new modular unit is to be installed in the grounds of Lochgelly South, which will house the nursery and provide more classroom spaces within the main school building.

Central Fife Times: The parking restrictions will come into force at the junction of Grainger Street and Hall Street in Lochgelly.The parking restrictions will come into force at the junction of Grainger Street and Hall Street in Lochgelly. (Image: Google)

But before the unit can be installed, extensive ground remediation works will be required, during which time the building can't be occupied.

Head of education at the council, Shelagh McLean, explained that there are "historic, shallow mine workings beneath the school building and grounds".

She had added: "These types of mine workings are likely to result in subsidence damage to the building in the future, unless these works are carried out."

Work at the school is in two phases: August to December 2023 will involve grouting treatment and stabilisation of the ground; January to August 2024 will involve the refurbishment of the building and installation of the new nursery accommodation.

There will also be upgrades carried out within the main school building.