Yobs vandalise Water of Leith lifebelt on Christmas Day

Residents have raised safety concerns after a lifebelt by the Water of Leith was removed from its mount and vandalised by a group of youths.

The lifebelt was vandalised. Pic: SOS Leith facebook page

Shirley Adamson, who lives close to Victoria Bridge where the incident happened, said: “I saw a bunch of yobs at around 11pm on Christmas Day throwing a Just Eat bike over the bridge then not long after, they decided it would be funny to destroy the life saving equipment.”

Pictures of the lifebuoy in the water were shared on the SOS Leith Facebook page on Boxing Day along with a post which read: “Vandalised lifebelt at Victoria Bridge retrieved from the Water of Leith, taken into safekeeping and Forth Ports Leith Docks notified.”

David Webster, senior port manager at Forth Ports, said: “Any vandalism of equipment that has been put in place to protect lives has the potential to be very serious.

The lifebelt was removed and dumped in the Water of Leith. Pic: SOS Leith facebook page

“We will replace any damaged life rings as soon as practical and strongly condone vandalism of any kind. Police Scotland will be informed of any incident in due course.”

There were also thought to be two similar incidents in the area in November involving the vandalism of lifebelts.

Removing lifebelts and tossing them into water compromises safety and can put lives at risk. When someone is spotted in the water, getting a lifebelt to that person in distress can provide precious minutes for the emergency services to respond and complete a rescue.

Anyone with information about these incidents should contact police on 101.

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