Road police worry

A MOVE by police to relocate traffic police from Greenock to Dumbarton has been criticised by local politicians.

Duncan McNeil MSP and David Cairns MP have written to the Chief Constable of Strathclyde Police to express concerns about the changes.

As many as 16 road policing officers who were based in Greenock will now muster at Dumbarton before heading out on patrols.

And if the Erskine Bridge is closed, officers will be asked to travel from Glasgow, Saltcoats and Ayr to police Inverclyde’s roads.

Both the MP and MSP for the area are concerned that the relocation will lead to slower response times to road incidents, allow more drink and drug drivers to escape detection and give the area’s ‘boy racers’ the run of the road.

Duncan McNeil, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, said: “I am not convinced that the high number of road accidents in this area has been considered.

“I fear this will impact on the level of service locally and in the event of the Erskine Bridge being closed, we could see cars being asked to come from as far away as Glasgow and Ayr.

“We take comfort in the fact that traffic police are on hand if there is an accident, people are drink driving or the local boy racers are making a nuisance of themselves.

“I also found it troubling that no consultation was undertaken given the scale of the changes and I have written to the Justice Secretary asking why this was not deemed necessary.”

Inverclyde Labour MP David Cairns added: "I am worried about the impact these changes this could have on road safety in Inverclyde. We need local traffic police on hand to respond to road accidents.

"Drivers feel safer knowing that, if they have an accident, traffic police are available to take charge of the situation fairly quickly. But if it takes them longer to get there, that could have serious consequences for drivers and lead to more tailbacks on our roads.
Minor road incidents can soon escalate into major ones if they are not handled speedily.

"I want police bosses to reconsider and keep our road policing in Inverclyde, where it belongs."