‘Utter chaos’ as thousands descend on picturesque Scottish beach and find car park closed

Fife Council has apologised after a popular beach descended into “utter chaos” as holidaymakers flocked to the seaside in huge numbers to make the most of the sun - only to find the carpark locked.

Silver Sands and Black Sands in Aberdour were the go-to destination for thousands on Thursday as the temperature soared towards 20C during the first week of the Easter holidays. But the access road became gridlocked, resulting in police attending to handle the sheer volume of traffic. Emergency vehicles were unable to get through at the height of the problem.

The council said it had been “caught out” by the early start to the school holidays, with the lease to manage the car park not starting until Easter.

Aberdour's Silver Sands beach. Picture: Scotsman/NationalWorld

It has apologised to families caught up in the chaos and said access to the car park would now be available for the rest of the holidays.

Local councillors David Barratt and Sarah Neal said they were inundated with calls.

Cllr Barratt described it as “utter chaos” and a “complete mess”. In a Facebook post, he said: “This situation is simply not good enough and while the council is in the process of developing planned investment to better manage Silver Sands, this should not have happened.”

He said police at the scene were directed to break the padlocks into the overflow area to try to manage the numbers of cars, which caused gridlock after being abandoned on the road. Officers also closed Hawkcraig Road to stop more vehicles arriving. Fife Coast and Countryside Trust mobilised staff to try to bring the situation under control.

Cllr Barratt said: “This is not their job and I'm very grateful for them being able to respond to this.” He added: “Police were relatively well prepared yesterday and it was the council that dropped the ball. The problem is that there is no clear management responsibility for the site and different bits of the council or the trust are responsible for different aspects of the site.

“The investment planned will improve parking management, toilet provision, beach access and other infrastructure. But until the management comes under a single organisation or service, chaos will prevail.

"There’s a strong argument for Fife Coast and Countryside Trust to be funded to take this task in, although I could equally see a community interest company or trust taking it on. Whatever the solution, revenue raised from parking and other activities must be reinvested in the village.”

Fife Council apologised for the chaos.

Scott Clelland, grounds maintenance service manager, said: "Usually this car park is closed until Easter, when it is opened and operated by a private leaseholder for the summer season. We have been caught out by the school holidays occurring earlier this year and apologise to disappointed visitors and residents who have been affected.

“Access to the car park will remain for the rest of the holidays and we have made contact with the leaseholder to confirm that they can begin operating earlier than originally planned."