DOZENS of registered sex offenders (RSOs) are living in Inverclyde, according to new police statistics.

Data published by Police Scotland this month revealed that 60 individuals convicted of sex offences currently reside in the region.

Figures for the Renfrewshire and Inverclyde police division show that there are almost 200 RSOs in the community, with a further 95 in custody or in hospital.

The Inverclyde postcode with the highest number of sex offenders is PA15, covering Greenock, which is home to 21 RSOs.

In PA16, covering Greenock and Inverkip, there were 17, and in the PA14 zone, which takes in Port Glasgow and Langbank, there were 14.

Three more were resident in PA19, covering Gourock, while Skelmorlie (PA17) and Kilmacolm (PA13) each had two and Wemyss Bay (PA18) one.

Nationally, more than 5,000 sex offenders are listed as living in the community, with Glasgow and Lanarkshire having the highest totals.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "Protecting the public is a priority for Police Scotland. While we can never eliminate risk entirely, we want to reassure communities that all reasonable steps are being taken to protect them.

"We put in place measures to minimise the likelihood of further sexual re-offending by registered sex offenders (RSOs) and would seek to re-assure people that sexual re-offending rates remain extremely low.

"RSOs are robustly managed by the police and our partners through multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA), and are subject to comprehensive risk assessment and risk management in the community.

"Police Scotland has units of dedicated officers specially trained for this task."