Police officer injured after night of disorder on streets of Dundee

Police have condemned anti-social behaviour in Dundee which bonfires being lit in the street and fireworks thrown at emergency services.

The city’s Kirkton area was ablaze on Monday night in scenes leader of Dundee City Council John Alexander described as similar to “a war-torn nation”.

Locals shared footage of youths appearing to light fires on roads, blocking access and forcing cars to drive over grass verges.

Police were present in the area, with images and footage on social media showing them in riot gear, since about 5.30pm.

One officer was injured in the chaos, and damage was caused to a school and a number of vehicles, police confirmed.

There has been no confirmation on arrests in relation to the anti-social behaviour so far, but officers said inquiries to find those involved are ongoing.

David Hamilton, of the Scottish Police Federation, said the scenes in Dundee were an “extreme expression” of fireworks disorder.

He told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme: “My working assumption, at the moment, would be that this happens every year and that this is just an extreme expression of what happens every year.

“And it is unacceptable, it doesn’t excuse it, it is something that is a problem when people get hold of fireworks and decide to have a shot at police officers, in particular.”

Pictures of the chaos emerged on social media showing wheelie bins on fire and flames and smoke filling streets.

Mr Hamilton added: “It’s absolutely unbelievable when you see these kind of pictures.

“Even for someone like myself who has been involved in these type of scenes, it is always a shock.

“This all particularly highlights the need for the new legislation that has come in to try to get some kind of control over fireworks.

“That’s not fully in place yet, that will be next year before that licensing scheme comes in, but that will be one aspect of it.

“Because this is not a one-off, this is something that has been happening for many years, which has been a problem for policing.”

He said there had been “big problems” with similar disorder in Midlothian, Glasgow and Edinburgh in the past.

“This is actually fairly new for Dundee in terms of the scale of it and the severity of it.”

Chief Superintendent Phil Davison said: “Throwing fireworks and other items towards emergency services is reckless and dangerous. No one should go to work and expect to be attacked.

“One officer suffered a minor injury and damage was caused to a school and a number of vehicles.

“I would like to reassure the public of Dundee that we remain committed to keeping them safe as we understand last night’s behaviour must have been really distressing for residents in the areas.

“We have a range of highly-trained public order officers available to policing commanders across Scotland to enhance resources and deal with any issues that arise. Officers will be patrolling the local areas to provide public reassurance.”

He urged anyone with information on Monday night’s disorder to contact police.

Mr Alexander described Monday’s scenes as “absolutely disgusting”.

He said: “This reckless behaviour endangers lives, with emergency vehicles unable to pass on Balgowan Avenue and it costs residents and every taxpayer money.

“I hope that every single one of those individuals responsible is identified and dealt with appropriately.

A spokeswoman for Police Scotland said: “We were called around 5.30pm on Monday to a report of a disturbance in the Balgowan Avenue and Old Glamis Road area of Dundee.”