​Action plan agreed with Sepa and local authority to clear Dalgety Bay of radium

Environmentalists have welcomed news the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has agreed to remove radioactive contamination from Dalgety Bay.

For decades the Fife coastline has been contaminated with radium from scrapped aircraft instrument panels.

But attempts to tackle the contamination in the past have been halted by disagreements between the MoD, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) and the local authority about who is responsible.

Now an action plan commissioned by the MoD to deal with the contamination looks set to go ahead after being endorsed by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa).

Defence minister Andrew Murrison said: "We are committed to supporting the Dalgety Bay community and, whilst the risk to the public has always been very low, this report sets out a clear and strong strategy to address the radium contamination on the beach.

All credit to the local community and to SEPA for their dogged persistence in getting the MoD to finally do the right thing - Richard Dixon

"We continue to work with Sepa and the council to achieve agreement on their future responsibilities and a definitive solution as soon as possible."

Richard Dixon, chief executive of Friends of the Earth Scotland, said it was down to pressure from the local community and Sepa that the MoD relented.

“The community around Dalgety Bay have had to put up with radioactive contamination for decades. It is great that the MoD has finally stopped denying responsibility and come up with a plan to deal with the mess they caused at Dalgety Bay.

“All credit to the local community and to SEPA for their dogged persistence in getting the MoD to finally do the right thing. The next challenge will be getting them to pay for it all and to do it properly.”