Several phone calls were made to Clydeport on Monday afternoon after residents saw a ‘mushroom cloud’ of coal dust emerging from the Clydeport facility.

During a Fairlie action group meeting on Monday evening, Carol McDowall said that she phoned Clydeport at 1.20pm to report the coal dust emanating from the port.

Other local residents also complained about the problem, it was reported at the meeting. The hoppers were apparently being sandblasted, but rear doors for the hoppers, for the grabs to go through, were still at an ‘early stage’, residents were told.

Carol told the audience: “It was a huge mushroom cloud.” MSP Kenneth Gibson said that he saw coal dust on several parked cars in Fairlie’s Main Road when he was attending his weekend surgery, and local resident Margaret Symington said that when she complained in the past about the coal dust, she was told that it was not coming from the port, and asked: “Could it be coming from the coal lorries on some occasions?” Reacting to the news of the latest dust problem, local councillor Tom Marshall reacted with alarm, and said: “This really needs to be sorted out - it is the 21st century - and with all the coal dust problems being reported, it is not good enough.” A Peel Ports spokesperson said: “We can confirm that essentials works are currently being carried out by an external contractor to repaint the underside of the causeway. This process involves shot blasting the old paint work prior to repainting and the first stage of this work was carried out on a centre section of the underside of the causeway.

“The works were carried out using industry approved methods and an environmentally friendly grit in order to minimise impact to the surrounding area. The vast majority of materials from this process lands in the working area and is swept up afterwards.

“We are working closely with our contractors, to ensure that all work carried out has minimal impact for those living in the area surrounding our site. This will include the installation of additional screening, to retain as much of the residual materials as possible on site."