‘Mindless damage’ by bus shelter vandals
Actions of ‘a few anti-social people’are condemned
Neds who have smashed bus shelters in Cambuslang have been told their actions are bringing down the community.
A series of incidents have been reported on the All About Cambuslang Facebook page over the past fortnight.
And residents now want to see an end to the behaviour in the town.
Strathclyde Passenger Transport (SPT), who have responsibility for bus shelters, confirmed they have replaced six panels on shelters recently at a cost of £514.
The first incident happened on Cambuslang Main Street opposite the train station when one polycarbonate panel was broken.
Two days later, five panels were destroyed at the stop on Hamilton Road, neat the Toll Pitch.
On both occasions the contractor attended that day to clear the mess.
Both incidents happened at the end of April but locals have reported other incidents on Facebook since.
Anti-social behaviour was a major concern for local businesses in Cambuslang Community Council’s business survey, released earlier this year.
David Thomson, chair of the community council, said: “It’s appalling to see this mindless damage.
“There are many people in the community working to improve the Main Street with planting and other measures.
“Many of the business owners are also doing their best to support improvements to the town centre. All this is undermined by the actions of a few anti-social people.
“The vandalism highlights the problems cited in our community survey and business survey: the need for an improved police presence on the Main Street, especially at times of the day and night when anti-social behaviour is most likely.”
A spokeswoman for SPT said: “Bus shelter vandalism inconveniences passengers and uses scarce public finances to put right.
“It is anti-social behaviour which does put people off using bus services, which in turn can lead to them being withdrawn altogether.”
In the past year, contractors have had to be called out to the town 10 times to deal with broken bus shelters.
During the 2016/17 financial year, they were called out nine times in Rutherglen.