POLICE chiefs are taking away 12 local officers from Inverclyde and moving them to Paisley - while large groups of youths run riot across the district.

David Wilson, who’s been district Depute Provost for the last five years, today attacked the move and claimed that he has been told that Inverclyde is ‘not a priority’ for police chiefs.

Mr Wilson, who is standing for re-election in ward one, insists the district should be high on the police agenda, especially when there are groups of as many as 100 youths descending on places like Pladda Fields in his constituency and causing mayhem for people living in neighbouring streets.

The farmland off Pladda Avenue is one of the local hotspots where children as young as 11 have been meeting up for open air gatherings where significant numbers drink alcohol, take drugs and get involved in other illicit and anti-social behaviour until the early hours of the morning before dispersing into neighbourhoods, vandalising property and causing chaos.

Paramedics have been called to the trouble spots, including last weekend when violence flared and a teenage boy was left scarred for life in a bottle attack now being investigated by detectives as a serious assault.

Local police chiefs have already admitted that the youngsters are ‘one step ahead’ of their officers due to their use of private social media messaging to co-ordinate the mass gatherings, and the problem has been so bad that officers on horseback had to be drafted in recently.

But a furious Mr Wilson says his plea for extra bobbies has been snubbed – and he has disclosed that the area is in fact losing a dozen officers.

Mr Wilson told the Tele: “The whole situation is out of hand.
“My constituents are not bothered about police priorities elsewhere – this is their priority.

“They want anti-social behaviour stopped in their streets, they don’t want their bins set on fire, their car wing mirrors broken off, their vehicles jumped on or to see young men and women urinating in their gardens.

“It’s rising to a crescendo and it is unbelievable.”

Mr Wilson says there are just two police officers assigned to the area and council community wardens also carry out visits.

But he – along with fellow Scottish Conservative council candidate Iain MacLeod – says that is simply not enough to tackle the problem.

He says he was told that because of ‘shootings in Glasgow and organised crime elsewhere in the country’ problems in Inverclyde do not figure highly on Police Scotland’s agenda.

Mr Wilson said: “I’ve been told 12 police have been moved from Greenock to Paisley after I asked for additional help to stop these young people running around.

“I asked for additional resources but I was told we are not a priority.

“Well I think we are a priority. I’ve been out up at Pladda Fields at 10 o’clock at night with our community wardens and I have the greatest sympathy for them and they do monitor it very well but we need a lot more.

“The police also do their best but we need more than just two bobbies.

“What is happening here is serious and is affecting many of our constituents.

“Iain is standing in ward two and we both have a responsibility for upper Port Glasgow and we’re both very concerned.”

The Telegraph asked Police Scotland why 12 officers were being taken away from the area but they did not answer the question directly.

Instead Inverclyde’s Chief Inspector, Elliot Brown, issued a statement explaining the ‘significant changes’ that have taken place locally and added that he has access to a ‘number of national assets’ to help tackle the problems at Pladda Fields.

Police chief defends force’s local strategy

RESPONDING to our story, Chief Inspector Elliot Brown, local area commander for Inverclyde, said: “Inverclyde has recently undergone a significant change, in line with division-wide changes to service delivery, in order to effectively meet the needs of the public.

“These changes have been made in response to feedback received from our ‘Your View Counts’ survey.

“At the heart of these changes is our commitment to provide more visibility and accessibility of officers, we have increased our neighbourhood policing team ensuring we have identifiable and accountable officers working with local communities.

“These officers are working a shift pattern which has been developed to meet community need and maximise opportunities to deal with local issues.

“The aim is to ensure that every person in the communities of Inverclyde know their local officers.

“In addition, as a result of the changes, we now have dedicated town centre teams working in Greenock and Port Glasgow, and have increased the number of officers working with our schools, children’s homes and young people.

“In the past 12 months the divisional road policing unit has been relocated to Greenock providing increased visibility and support to the people of Inverclyde.

“In relation to the issues concerning Pladda Fields, we have been actively engaging with our partners in the local authority and speaking to all school pupils in the area and contacting parents to educate them around youth disorder as a prevention measure.

“At our disposal, we have access to a number of national assets to tackle any such type of concerns, and recently we’ve been able to deploy mounted officers and additional support resources to Pladda Fields to deal with the issues that have been brought to our attention.

“The people of Inverclyde will notice an increased police presence in their areas as a direct result of these changes, and we hope people will get to know their local officers and build a lasting relationship with them.”