Yobs using 'designer' stones to smash windows in homes

YOUTHS are taking stones from a "moat" around Ocean Terminal and smashing windows at neighbouring flats and offices.

Now residents and community leaders in the Leith dockland area are calling on the shopping centre to remove the design feature.

People living in the flats at Portland Gardens are so fed up with the problem that they have asked their factors to hold a meeting with Ocean Terminal bosses.

One resident said he was relaxing in his second-floor flat when the window was put through with a stone, showering the living room with broken glass.

"The light was on and I was sitting there, so clearly a good target," he said. "The problem is the supply of stones which kids pocket and then throw at the derelict buildings around the Western Harbour and the cars behind, smashing and denting as they go.

"The factors have remonstrated with Ocean Terminal but alas there's been no progress."

It is understood the factors, Hacking and Paterson, have had several meetings to see if the stone-filled ditch around the multi-storey car park can be either removed or filled in. However, no agreement has been struck so far.

Graham Chapman, chair of Leith Harbour and Newhaven Community Council, said residents in the area were becoming increasingly concerned at the level of incidents.

He said: "It's definitely a problem. They can quite easily go to this ditch and pocket a handful of stones and throw them around the place.

"They also get them from the gravel overspill car park at the other side. It's been an issue in the past as well."

Earlier this week, the News reported that buses and cars in Leith were increasingly coming under attack from stone-throwing youngsters.

Leith councillor Gordon Munro said a number of projects which had been set up in the area to engage local youths, including a portable football pitch, should help address the issue.

He said: "It's something that I've heard from a few people is a problem down there.

"There is a group of youngsters that are difficult, but there's not that many of them.

"If we can engage them in different ways, I'm confident we can put an end to this.

"Things like the football pitch give police a new tool to build relationships with youngsters who were troublesome in the past, and we've seen already how it can lead to a drop in calls from residents to the police."

No one from either Ocean Terminal nor Hacking and Paterson were available for comment.