Bus shelter vandalism costs £40k

TAYSIDE and Fife councils are being left to pay thousands of pounds every year to replace damaged bus shelters.

The latest figures reveal nearly £40,000 has been taken out of the public purse in Dundee, Perth and Angus since early last year after incidents of vandalism.

Fife Council, meanwhile, had to fork out £30,000 for all shelter repairs in 2020-21.

The worst incidents have set councils back more than £1,000 on top of creating an eyesore and causing inconvenience to the public.

A spokesman for Dundee City Council confirmed the local authority had to pay £26,681.32 between January 2020 and July 2021.

A fire at a shelter on Forfar Road in Dundee in April cost the taxpayer more than £1,000.

Shelters on MacAlpine Road had been targeted more than 10 times during the same 19-month period, at a cost of nearly £4,600.

Mark Flynn, convener of Dundee City Council’s city development committee, said attacks on shelters was “not a victimless crime”.

He said: “The council provides and maintains bus stops and shelters throughout the city, and there is absolutely no justification for vandalism of public property.

“Attacks on facilities like bus shelters don’t just cost the public purse to repair or replace, they inconvenience people in the community, sometimes the most vulnerable who rely on shelters while waiting for public transport to stay dry and out of the worst of the weather.

“That’s the whole reason for them being there in the first place, and when someone damages them it is therefore not a victimless crime.

“These are public assets and public facilities and I would urge anyone who sees bus shelters or other public property being damaged to report it straight away.”

Angus Council’s total spend on such repairs during 2020-21 topped £10,000, while Perth and Kinross spent nearly £1,500.

Fife Council confirmed £30,000 of public monies had been budgeted to cover repairs and acts of vandalism to shelters for 2021-22.

Incidents across the districts have been varied with some shelters being repeatedly attacked.

Angus Council had to focus its energies on fixing terminuses damaged in Arbroath, Brechin and Montrose.

Montrose councillor Bill Duff said it was “disappointing” that such a sum is being used to tackle acts of vandalism in the area.

Shelters on Brechin Road and Newhame Road were among several that had been targeted in the councillor’s ward.

He said: “It’s disgraceful that the local authority are having to spend these sums of cash after incidents of vandalism.

“The money could be put to better use across Angus.”

Safer communities manager for Fife, Kirstie Freeman, said they will continue to work with police to combat anti-social behaviour. She added: “Vandalism of any kind is unacceptable and a blight on our communities.”