PEEBLES residents are being urged to engage with police to help tackle anti-social behaviour.

Last week this newspaper reported that there were growing concerns in the town over safety at the high school.

Reported instances of bullying, damage to property and harassment around Peebles have been widely shared online.

READ MORE: Anti-social behaviour: Officials respond as pupils ‘fear for safety’ at High School

Chief inspector Vinnie Fisher, local area commander for the Borders, said that in order to tackle this behaviour, those making reports to 999 or 101 need to engage with officers.

“I think we got a report in terms of the school stuff, but they wouldn’t commit,” he said. “That leaves us in a difficult position.

“The informant didn’t want to engage with us and nor did they want us to approach their child, so that leaves us in a difficult position as to where we take that.

“So, all you’ve really got then is intelligence rather than evidence and what credibility do you attach to that piece of untested, unverified information.”

Community leaders in Peebles hope that in addition to policing anti-social behaviour in the town, more support can be given to and from the community to tackle the issue.

Groups such as Tweeddale Youth Action and Greener Peebles already have youth programmes, catering for a range of interests.

READ MORE: Multi agency approach to tackling anti-social behaviour in Peeblesshire

And earlier this year, Peebles Community Council organised a meeting at Peebles High School to discuss with pupils what kind of provision they would like to see in the town.

Chairman of the community council Les Turnbull said: “Young people are telling us that they haven’t got anywhere where they can hang out with their mates at night.

“They say, ‘all we really want is somewhere we can go sit, play music and talk to our friends’. And they just haven’t got anywhere like that.

“That’s one of the principle things we’re looking for, is to try and find a place where we can accommodate these youngsters so they’ve got somewhere to go.”

Tweeddale East councillor Julie Pirone, of the Conservatives, said: “One of the reasons the council did those community conversations, where we went out around communities and asked them what they wanted to see.

“The anti-social behaviour stuff came up. What can we do more for young people, what can we provide?

“If you had lots of money you’d do lots of wonderful things, but there’s a finite amount of money that we can spend on it.

“But we’re looking at all of that, and some of the funding is going to the youth club – they’re doing quite a lot of work just now on integrating Ukrainian children, that we are helping to support.

“You also have to make sure that if you’re going to provide facilities or whatever the children want, that they actually want it and they’re going to use it.”

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Ms Pirone said she hoped the development of a skate park in the town would open a new space for young people to enjoy.

In addition to sharing details of anti-social behaviour in the town and at the high school, members of the public also expressed their concerns over the 101 reporting system.

Inspector Robbie Noble said: “I can confirm, as somebody who used to work up there [101 centre], every single phone call that comes through to the police is recorded, so if you ask for an incident number you’ll be given one, but every single call is recorded.”