Warning on vandalism at Dumfries old hospital

AN old hospital in Dumfries continues to be a target for vandals and yobs, a councillor has warned.

Nith Councillor David Slater recently described the state of the former Nithbank hospital building as an “absolute disgrace”.

Speaking at last week’s Nithsdale area committee, he also raised the issue of derelict buildings in general becoming a target for vandals and fire-raisers.

Fire service chiefs attended the meeting to present their annual service performance report for 2024-25 for the Nithsdale area.

Councillor Slater said: “I have probably raised this at previous meetings, but buildings in this town which are lying derelict are still being vandalised and burnt down in some cases.

“Somebody’s obviously going to get very seriously hurt here – or worse.”

He then asked the fire service officers if they believed it would take a change in local authority rules or laws at government level for firefighters to demand CCTV being installed in buildings at risk.

Councillor Slater continued: “I was up at the old hospital the other day there and it’s an absolute disgrace. It’s been set on fire a couple of times, and kids are running across the roof. Something needs to be done.”

Station commander Kevin McCartney replied: “We work really closely with the police and are aware of all the derelict buildings within Nithsdale, such as the convent and Nithbank.

“We go regularly and have meetings with Police Scotland who then are in touch with the council and the owners to try and push for better security at the premises and for 24-hour security and for the addition of CCTV cameras.

“But that is down to the local owners. The fire service have no powers to enforce that or to request that they put them in.”

He added: “At this time, I’m not aware of anything further that we can do.

“Our community action team is being proactive. Our crews do visit the sites and they’re in touch with the schools.”

The last major reported deliberate fire at the Nith Bank building was in May 2023.

Firefighters were called out at 10.30 pm on a Saturday night to the three-storey building, and two fire crews extinguished the blaze. There were no reported casualties and crews left after ensuring the area was made safe.

Last year there were 616 fire service incidents recorded in Nithsdale, which represented a decrease of 11 percent on the previous reporting year.

There were 48 deliberate fire-setting incidents – almost half of the 94 recorded in 2022/23.