A FIFE MSP has called for an enquiry into a controversial eyesore near a West Fife visitor attraction.

The 30-feet high pile of old carpets and plasterboard has been a huge blot on the landscape near to the Scottish Vintage Bus Museum at Lathalmond for years.

It is thought that the bill to clear the land could be between £500,000 and £1 million.

MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife Alex Rowley is hoping Fife Council will step in and help find a solution which will see the smelly eyesore disappear.

Now he's written to council's chief Steve Grimmond demanding an investigation.

"I have been asking the council and SEPA to take action for a long time," he told the Press. "Given that no action to clean up the site has been forthcoming and it is not clear where responsibility lies, I am requesting that the council hold an official investigation into the extent of the proposed costs involved and having it cleaned and the options of who will take the lead.

"I would then like a public report that sets out all these details so we can draw this to some kind of conclusion."

The site at the entrance to the Lathalmond M90 Commerce Park was operated by First Option Services, who specialised in recycling materials including carpets, plastics and plasterboard until the business ceased trading in June 2012.

The two men in charge of the company, Michael Hope and James Winters, received community payback orders at Dunfermline Sheriff Court in June this year after admitting keeping controlled waste – approximately 3,500 tonnes of waste carpet and 3,500 tonnes of waste plasterboard – in a manner likely to cause pollution of the environment or harm to human health.

The charge added that the waste also produced “offensive odours”.

However, no orders were made to clear the site and SEPA and the council have so far been unable to resolve the issue.

A spokesperson for SEPA said they were aware of concerns from the local community regarding the presence of waste at the former site and had taken various enforcement steps to attempt to secure the removal of the waste.

"We are continuing to explore any remaining available options for securing the removal of waste from the site, however, we are not in a position to comment any further on these at the present time," added the spokesperson.

"We would like to assure the public that water sampling undertaken by SEPA to date has not indicated any impact from the site on the water quality of any watercourse in the surrounding area.”

Mr Rowley complained: "I am disappointed as we don't seem to be getting very far. I am quite clear it is not a problem created by the public authorities although I would want to know what lessons have been learned.

"That aside, I am not suggesting any liability sits with SEPA or Fife Council but what I am saying is it cannot be a reason for doing nothing. It is in the public interest that we have this investigation that identifies where responsibility lies and that is able to put a cost on what is involved in getting this site cleared."

Service manager Roy Stewart said: "We are currently liaising with SEPA who are leading on this issue. They have written to the landowners and are continuing to explore options for removal of the waste from the site.

"We will provide an update to Mr Rowley as soon as we have more information."