Explosion fears at Travellers' site - Renfrewshire

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AN abandoned Travellers campsite at a derelict hospital near Johnstone had to be probed by gas experts this week amid fears of an explosion.

Members of the travelling community had taken residence at the old Merchiston Hospital in the Brookfield area of the town.

They left the site, which lies on the corner of Bridge of Weir Road and Barrochan Road, at the tail end of last week - leaving behind them a 200-yard trail of destruction.

Several recently used Calor Gas canisters and jerry cans full of petrol lay strewn amongst the debris, while a strong smell of gas hung heavy in the air.

The potentially-fatal combination of gas and highly-flammable liquids in such close proximity prompted an engineer from the Scottish Gas Network to investigate the site.

Following a 30-minute long inspection, he gave the hospital the all-clear.

Fresh tyre track troughs now scar the grass around the site's buildings, and the Travellers have left an almighty clean-up operation for the landowners - the Argyll and Clyde Health Board.

Smashed glass, garden refuse, empty beer bottles, discarded microwave meals and pizza boxes are now strewn across the grounds of the hospital, which was once home to mentally-ill patients.

All the lead had been stripped off the roofs of the hospital's various buildings, while drain covers, metal grates and the piping from the various buildings' boiler rooms had also been taken. It's thought this will be sold on as scrap metal.

An empty caravan washing machine, rammed full of tatty clothes, sits on the grass, just yards from an empty Honda cardboard box.

The box was for one of the Japanese firm's EU20i caravan petrol generators, which retail at over £1,000.

Due to the large volume of garden refuse, broken tree branches and bailed shrubbery which covered the hospital grounds' streets and pavement, it's thought the Travellers had been doing gardening jobs during the day and dumping their rubbish when they returned home at night.

A receipt for a printers merchants showing flyers had recently been purchased suggested the Travellers had also been offering roofing services in the local area.

And amongst the empty crisp packets, random pieces of cutlery, deserted newspapers and countless empty cola bottles, was a mountain of shoes.

Dozens of pairs of shoes, and tens of odd shoes, lay scattered across a cross-road in the grounds of the hospital, which was closed in 2008.

The Travellers' presence in Johnstone coincided with a spate of fuel thefts in the area - where brazen thieves siphoned off hundreds of pounds worth of petrol and diesel by DRILLING into the tanks of vehicles.

The mindless criminals are putting lives in danger and risking injury by damaging cars and vans and stealing fuel as they sit outside homes and businesses.

On February 15 a van in Johnstone's Turnhill Drive was targeted.

Later that day two cars were also hit in Houston's Cricketfield Lane.

The thefts all took place at night and were only discovered the next morning.

Fraser Gillespie, 50, of Johnstone's Benston Motor Engineers, has been a mechanic for over 20 years and believes it is just a matter of time before somebody is hurt.

He added: "Drilling into a fuel tank is a ridiculous thing to do - it is incredibly dangerous.

"You have an electric drill which could produce a spark, that could easily ignite fuel.

"A metal drill bit could also light petrol or diesel as it makes contact with metal.

"Then there's the guy who comes out and drops a lit fag onto petrol leaking from a tank or the motorists who skid on diesel when the road becomes slippery."

A number of thefts have also been reported to police in Erskine, Elderslie and the surrounding villages, with damage to vehicles running into the thousands of pounds.

Community policing Inspector Angela McHendry believes help from the public will be key in catching the criminals.

She added: "We are following a positive line of enquiry but are appealing for anyone with information on these thefts to contact their local police

office.

"We want to work closely with residents and motorists to catch those responsible before there is a serious accident."

Criminals are also putting lives at risk in a busy Inchinnan industrial estate.

Last week seven fire hydrants were damaged when thieves stole metal covers for scrap, damaging them in the process.

The busy site off Greenock Road is home to a number of manufacturing firms and offices, with hundreds of employees and visitors coming and going on a daily basis.

Police worry employees could now be at risk of fire.

Anyone with information on fuel thefts should contact police on 0141 532 6100 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.