HEALTH staff have raised serious safety concerns about a lack of lighting outside a Greenock hospital.

Councillor Tommy McVey says he has received 'numerous complaints' from staff at Orchard View who are not comfortable walking through a darkened stretch outside the facility to get to and from work.

Bosses at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde have been notified and say they are working to resolve the issue.

But Councillor McVey says it has taken far too long for the safety issue to be addressed.

He said: "These lights have been out for over a year now.

"A cable was damaged when Orchard View was being built and it has still not been repaired.

"I have had complaints from members of staff who are not comfortable walking through this very dark stretch of road, to get to and from work.

"I have raised this issue with the health board several times and been told the cable would be repaired but they could not say when.

"It would appear that repairing the faulty cable is not a priority and that the board are happy for Orchard View staff to travel to their work via a route which some may construe as unsafe."

In a statement, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde told the Tele they are working to address the situation.

The board said: "As soon as this issue with the lighting was identified we have been working with multiple external providers including water, gas and electric power services to have the issue rectified.

"Unfortunately this has taken longer than expected but during this time we have put in place interim measures to provide lighting in the affected area.

"There is also an alternative well-lit route that staff can use.

"Work has started on site to excavate and install a new duct and power cable to supply the lighting columns."

Bosses say they expected the work to be completed by today.

and we expect this work to be complete by the end of this week."

Orchard View, built next to Inverclyde Royal Hospital, is a 42-bed facility specially-designed for older people suffering from dementia and adults with mental health problems.

It replaced the Dunrod Unit at the former Ravenscraig Hospital.