Attempts were made to block an Orange Order event which saw DUP leader Arlene Foster deliver a speech at a Scottish school in June, documents released to the Herald on Sunday have revealed.

Fife Council rubber stamped the use of Beath High School grounds by the Orange Order for a fee of £1,200. Foster delivered a history lesson on the life of William of Orange to an estimated 8,000 supporters before they marched through Cowdenbeath.

Foster told the crowd “we need to be like William and build alliances for the good of all the country”, and suggested a new bridge is built between Scotland and Northern Ireland, which she said should be part-funded by the UK Government.

The event on June 30 saw more than 40 Fife Roads closed, including slips roads to and from the A92, the main dual carriageway through Fife.

Internal documents released following a freedom of information request reveal politicians, police chiefs, education bosses, community councillors, bus companies, an equalities charity and the council’s own officials raised concerned about the event and warned of “disruption”.

The right to hold such events is protected by the European Convention on Human Rights, however local authorities can overrule this using the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982.

Two days before the event, the legal background was circulated among senior councillors by the council’s communications department. It said the local authority could prohibit the event if “there is evidence of sufficient weight from the police or council officers of likely disruption” which would “outweigh the right to parade”.

On June 8, three weeks before the event, Chief Inspector Tom Brown warned the council that the event was likely to “have a significant disruption with regard to traffic management and local access”.

Another senior officer, Chief Superintendent Derek McEwan, wrote to Fife Council director Keith Winter on June 12, to say “nearly 100 police officers” would be required to oversee around 8,000 people that were expected to arrive at the high school to see Foster, who he said is “not without controversy just now”.

He said: “This will have a significant impact on all emergency services, council services, public transport, the public etc. Now we are trying to manage our aspect as best we can, and ultimately will be staffing in the region (of) 40 road closures.”

He went on to warn that the event will result in “significant impact and disruption upon the communities and businesses of Cowdenbeath”.

It is understood there was additional cost to Police Scotland, which has yet to be calculated.

Bus company Stagecoach complained that the event would “leave half of Crossgates, Hill of Beath, Cowdenbeath, Lumphinnans, and half of Lochgelly without a bus service… effectively cutting off these towns and villages.”

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The Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT), the trade association for bus and coach industries, wrote to the co-leaders of Fife Council two days before the event, and CCd every local politician, and Fife Council’s chief executive, Steve Grimmond.

The email said they wanted to “formally voice our dismay at the council’s approach” to the event, and the impact on bus services. “Thousands of people, many dependent on public transport, will be cut off from accessing vital services,” the email added.

CPT accused the council of “tacitly supporting disruption” and said the local authority had “chosen not to challenge” the event organisers.

An angry email from the local community council dated June 2 raised concerns about the event and said locals had asked community councillors “why we’ve allowed this to happen”.

Charity Fife Centre for Equalities wrote to the council on June 4 to complain that the event will “cause fears and concerns among some community members in Fife”.

Local MP Lesley Laird, local MSP Annabelle Ewing and local councillor Alistair Bain also raised concerns before the event, as did the convenor of the council’s education committee, Councillor Fay Sinclair.

Laird questioned the use of the school grounds for the “controversial” event and Bain said he believed Fife Council resources should not have been used “to assist the Orange Order”.

In an email to one councillor, the head of education Carrie Lindsay revealed she “looked into refusing let but this wasn’t possible”.

A senior compliance officer at the education department then contacted a colleague at the finance team who confirmed that the decision to agree the let of the school grounds was signed off by council staff in Cowdenbeath.

An email sent on June 6 said: “I spoke to (redacted) at Beath High School Community Use. (redacted) took the original phone call asking for the booking. (redacted) did mention to (redacted) that the type of event might not be suitable for a school booking, (redacted) liaised with the team manager at Brunton (House, a Fife Council premises in Cowdenbeath)…and they both eventually agreed the booking.”

The council received the booking form from the County Grand Lodge of the East on May 14. The fee was £1,200, according to internal documents. The cost to the council of “signage” for the event was £500. There was also a cost for removal of graffiti by protestors against the Orange Order.

The senior compliance officer later told the finance department that the council “need to establish protocols around any political organisation using schools for purposes such as this”.

He added: “Perhaps this should have been escalated prior to agreement.”

Despite the weight of concerns, Fife Council’s Chief Executive Steve Grimmond wrote to Lesley Laird MP on June 8 to underline that there would have to be “evidence of sufficient weight from the police or council officers of likely disruption if the parade goes ahead to outweigh the ECHR right.”

He added that there were “no reasonable grounds” to review the let of the school grounds.

In a subsequent letter to Laird sent three weeks after the event, Grimmond accepted the event cause “private and public transport disruption” and revealed the council had received complaints. Speaking to the Herald on Sunday last night, Laird said the event had highlighted “gaps in assessing the risks involved and the likely costs to the public purse”.

A review led by the Scottish Government’s Resilience Division found there was a lack of leadership, and a lack of “formal event management” which impacted on information flows and decision-making processes.

The review did not look at whether the event should have been stopped, however future applications to Fife Council must be subjected to a “clear formal event management process,” according to the internal document, which was marked “official sensitive”.

A council spokeswoman said: “The council and partners worked together to facilitate this event taking into consideration cost and potential disruption.

“We have a standard process for dealing with notifications for processions and parades from any group or organisation. The council’s role is to consider the impact on local road networks and Police Scotland manage the parade route and traffic. We impose standard conditions for all parades.

“It is the organisers’ responsibility to conduct a risk assessment and ensure the safety and conduct of all participants. As long as organisers are adhering to the conditions set out, the council has no right to say who is or isn’t allowed to hold an event.”

Police Scotland's Fife Divisional Commander, Chief Superintendent Derek McEwan, said: “Many events which require a policing response can cause additional costs to Police Scotland. The costs are not necessarily purely financial with careful planning undertaken to ensure that we always make best use of the resource attached to an event.”

A DUP spokesman said Foster's visit was "entirely uncontroversial” and her message was “one of building bridges” and “a shared society where people are able to live free from intolerance and hatred”.

The Orange Order did not respond to a request for comment.