MINDLESS louts who inflicted 'extensive' damage on shelters at a busy Greenock bus station have been slammed by a local councillor.

Vandals destroyed more than half a dozen panels on bus shelters at Kilblain Street station in a wrecking rampage.

Town councillor Graeme Brooks today hit out at the vandals as bosses at Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT), who oversee the operation of the busy bus station, expressed frustration.

They said SPT had invested heavily in the station and that the local community would suffer due to the smashing spree.

Mr Brooks said: "I'm very disappointed.

"SPT has made a big investment to improve this part of Greenock town centre, which is crucial.

"We've also recently received levelling up funding to improve the town centre and the Inverclyde Task Force are trying to bring more jobs in, which we hope will attract more people to the area and help us get away from the challenges Inverclyde has faced for decades.

"But activity like this - sheer vandalism - is just going to make the challenges we have harder to deal with.

"It's mindless and unacceptable behaviour.

"I will be speaking to my colleague councillor David Wilson, who is the vice-chair of SPT, to see what can be done around the policing of this area.

"It's the minority of people taking part in this illegal or criminal behaviour.

"The police have the power to deal with this and they need to be resourced appropriately so they can be on the streets and in our town centres.

"We've got dedicated town centre officers who do a fantastic job but they can't be everywhere at the one time.

"The public need to lend their eyes and ears and we need to make sure that local police have the resources to police this area appropriately."

The bus station sits within the boundaries of Inverclyde Council ward four, which a recent police report revealed had the highest number of disorder incidents in the area.

While disorder and youth disorder complaints have dropped overall in Inverclyde, the Greenock town centre area remains a hotspot.

An SPT spokesperson said: "We are aware of, and deeply frustrated, about the extensive criminal damage that has taken place at Greenock Bus Station over the weekend.

"This cannot be tolerated.

"SPT has invested heavily in this facility for the local community who ultimately lose out.

"We are working closely with local councillors and with Police Scotland to identify those responsible for this totally unacceptable behaviour.

"We are currently looking at costs for repairs and will work to have these completed as soon as possible."

A Police Scotland spokesperson confirmed that local officers are looking into the vandal attack to try and find those responsible.

They added: "Officers are carrying out enquiries into a report of vandalism in the Kilblain Street area of Greenock, which was reported on Sunday February 12.

"We are in regular contact with our partners at the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport and respond to any reports of youth disorder as necessary.

"Areas such as Kilblain Street are patrolled on a regular basis by officers and community wardens, as part of the Inverclyde Town Centre Disorder Safety Plan."