Members of Balloch and Haldane community council were shocked to hear that there were three offences of child neglect in the area in the last month.

PC Liddell presented a report from Police Scotland relating to the period of March 4 to April 4 at a community council meeting last Wednesday, which was chaired by Murdoch Cameron.

Members of the community council expressed surprise at the news, to which PC Liddell responded it was “not something you come across often here”.

The child neglect offences were among 26 crime reports raised in the Balloch and Haldane area in the last month.

Other crimes and offences that were highlighted included five common assaults, one sex offence, seven vandalism offences and one Dangerous Dogs Act offence.

At the meeting, PC Liddell also claimed that there is currently an apparent “spike” in youth crime in the wider area of late.

He said: “There’s been a spike across the whole division recently. They are just causing havoc just now.

“There’s not one particular area that is targeted.”

Community council members also took the opportunity to enquire about progress regarding the investigation into the unauthorised felling of over a hundred trees at Loch Lomond last month, which shocked members of the public.

PC Liddell responded: “We’re following a positive line of enquiry. It’s still ongoing.”