A FORMER community police officer who spent more than a decade serving the people of Gourock has been selected as Labour’s candidate in the town’s upcoming by-election.

Ian Hellyer has vowed to be a voice for Gourock residents if he is elected as the town’s newest councillor on November 7.

The 65-year-old spent 30 years as a local police officer, with a large part of his career spent in Gourock, before becoming a driving instructor and examiner.

Find out how to vote in Gourock by-election later this year

The father-of-three says that if he is elected he will focus on building on Gourock’s existing attractions and facilities and added that he would like to see a more visible community policing presence in the area.

Ian Hellyer is aiming to win the seat recently vacated by his Labour colleague Martin McCluskey. (Image: George Munro)

He said: “Gourock’s been a big part of my life through working here.

“I know the people in Gourock, I can communicate with them and I understand what they want.

“A big thing about what I want to do is listen to people, that’s been a big part of my working life.

“To listen, develop what they want and move forward so they understand that when they come and talk to me I’ve got a plan for them.

“We’ve got to continue with what’s been really good about Gourock.”

The by-election was called after Mr Hellyer's Labour colleague Martin McCluskey resigned following his election as MP for Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West.

READ MORE: Inverclyde's new MP steps down as councillor for Gourock ward after General Election victory

The would-be councillor is full of praise for the town, but admitted there were some areas he would like to see improved.

He added: “It’s a fantastic place. Look at Kempock Street with all the local businesses – the cafes and restaurants and how they’ve developed.

“I think we need to look at that and move that forward.

“We’ve also got some work to do on Shore Street. There’s a plan to look at Shore Street and also develop it and bring it forward to what it needs to be.

“We’ve got great public spaces, great public parks and coastline which is second to none.

“We’ve got the gateway to Argyll and we have all these positives, but we can’t stand back and wait, as a councillor you have to make things work and push forward and I would be a voice for the people of Gourock to do that.   

“That includes the everyday things – the roads, how things are developing and how things work in the town.

“Another thing I’m really interested in is the community policing aspect of things. What I would really like to see is community policing come back to the way that I knew it, where nearly every other day you would see a police officer walking down the street.

“Somebody the local traders knew, somebody they can relate to and somebody they can speak to.

“The campaign has been really good so far. We’re getting a lot of positive messages towards the Labour group.”

Mr Hellyer is competing against Christopher McEleny (Alba), Robert Kirkpatrick (SNP), John Burleigh (Reform UK) and Ted Runciman (Conservative).