'It's a nightmare': Fife residents demand inquiry into flaring at petrochemical plant

Issue symbolises disconnect between Holyrood's climate rhetoric and what happens on the ground, say residents

When Linda Erskine looked outside her window last week, she saw an intense flare from the Mossmorran petrochemical plant in Fife. The flaring, which she says collapses night into day, can be seen more than 20 miles away in Edinburgh.

Erskine, a local Labour councillor, describes living in Lochgelly, a former mining community neighbouring Mossmorran, as unpleasant. "When that flare goes, the house does vibrate. For me it's something akin to a Nimrod [maritime patrol plane] landing on top of your house. The first time I went out to see if there's a helicopter flying overhead."