Greenock Telegraph
MUM LURED FRIEND INTO . BRUTAL ATTACK
A PORT Glasgow mum lured her friend to a street where he was subjected to a brutal assault by four masked men and stripped of his clothes over an ‘owed drug debt’. Rhiannon Collins, 23, told the man that they were going for something to eat but when...
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VETERANS’ ANGER AT DAMP FIX DELAYS
FRUSTRATED veterans say delays in repairing damp at their new Greenock headquarters are preventing them from providing people with vital privacy. Inverclyde Veterans Network secured the councilowned premises in Cathcart Street earlier this year and...
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THUGS JAILED AFTER LIFE THREATENING ATTACK VIOLENCE LEFT VICTIM SERIOUSLY INJURED AND PERMANENTLY DISFIGURED
THREE men have been jailed following an attack in a Greenock street which left a man fighting for his life in hospital. William Kerrigan, 23, Andrew Rennie, 26, and Lee Heron, 29, were charged after an incident involving a 44-year-old man earlier this...
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MUM’S ORDEAL INSPIRES SON’S EPIC RUN
A DEVOTED son took on a mammoth trek to thank hospital staff for saving his mum’s life after she suffered two potentially fatal brain aneurysms. Leon Brown’s Greenockborn mum Yvonne was left in a coma for two weeks when one of the aneurysms ruptured...
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COUNCILLOR CALLS FOR OVERCHARGING COMPENSATION RESIDENTS COMPLAINED ABOUT BIOMASS HEATING SYSTEM AT HIGH-RISE FLATS
HIGH-RISE tenants are being put at risk by heating overcharges, according to a campaigning Greenock councillor. Councillor Colin Jackson says he has received a string of complaints over the last 10 months about the biomass district heating system that...
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COUPLE RAISE £30K IN ROMY’S MEMORY
A COUPLE who turned their grief into a £30,000 fundraising effort after losing their first daughter have shared their story to mark Baby Loss Awareness Week. Rhianna Keenan and Jordan Provan were devastated when baby Romy was stillborn at 40...
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‘I FOUND OUT THAT I’D HAD A HEART ATTACK TWO DAYS LATER’
A GREENOCK football coach has described how he suffered a heart attack during a training session – but didn’t realise it until two days later. Iain Borland was at a Greenock United session at Notre Dame High School when he began to feel unwell.
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WOMAN SEXUALLY ASSAULTED OFFICER
A SICK offender subjected a police officer to a sexual assault by seizing a hold of his private parts while uttering sexually explicit remarks. Robyn Murdoch pled guilty at Greenock Sheriff Court to the disgusting crime which took place in the run-up...
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‘DROPPING 4-STONE CHANGED MY LIFE’
A PORT Glasgow grandmother who once relied on two walking sticks to get around says losing almost four stone has been ‘life-changing’ after helping reduce the severe pain and mobility problems caused by fibromyalgia. Alison Harkness, 59, is now...
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MAN DENIES ATTEMPTED MURDER
A MAN is set to stand trial next year accused of attempting to murder a woman in Port Glasgow. John McKenzie denies an allegation that he carried out a sustained attack on the woman at a property in January 2025. It is claimed the 38-year-old went...
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MORE THAN 1,600 OPERATIONS AT IRH CANCELLED LAST MINUTE
CALLS for action have been made after ‘concerning’ figures showed more than 1,600 operations were cancelled at Inverclyde Royal Hospital at the last minute. New figures from Public Health Scotland show 1,621 operations scheduled to take place in a...
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MAN THREATENED TO KILL NEIGHBOURS HUGE RISE IN WOMEN AT RISK OF BEING KILLED ABUSE VICTIM’S MUM CALLS FOR CHANGE AS SHOCKING INVERCLYDE STATISTICS REVEALED
THE devastated mum of a Greenock woman who suffered violence at the hands of her boyfriend before she was found dead has called for tougher action to protect victims – as the number of women at high risk of serious harm or death in Inverclyde has...
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GRIEVING DAD VOWS TO KEEP WIFE’S LEGACY ALIVE
A GRIEVING Gourock dad has vowed to keep his wife’s legacy alive by helping other families cope with the devastating loss of a loved one. Kevin McNeill says his children Millie, eight, and Aidan, six, are the greatest legacy of his wife Jennifer, who...
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ABUSER JAILED AFTER VIOLENT ASSAULT
A VIOLENT abuser who seized a woman by the neck, pinned her to the ground, and repeatedly punched her after she told him their relationship was over has been jailed. Declan Roe carried out the brutal assault after an argument developed between the...
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DAUGHTER’S HELP FOR HOSPICE
A DEDICATED daughter is honouring her mum’s memory by giving up her time to provide a lifeline service for cancer patients. Lucy Grant tragically lost her mum Theresa in 2020 at the age of 59 following a long battle with breast cancer. Throughout her...
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FEARS FOR CARE HOME RESIDENTS
FEARS are growing for residents and staff at a Greenock care home after an industry watchdog took the extraordinary step of seeking a court order to cancel its registration over ‘serious safety concerns’. An unannounced inspection by the Care...
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‘IT’S MY WAY OF KEEPING HER MEMORY ALIVE’
CHEERS rang out around Port Glasgow Pool as a local dad completed a millionmetre swimming challenge in memory of his daughter and raised enough money to fund a disability swimming club for a year. Hugh Stewart, far left, was applauded by members of...
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PENSIONER ‘INJURED BY E-BIKE’
AN elderly pedestrian was ‘injured in a collision with an ebike’ in Greenock, sparking concerns over safety on Inverclyde’s roads and footpaths. The Scottish Ambulance Service confirmed that a man in his 80s was taken to hospital following an incident...
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MISSING CASH SPARKS PROBE
INVERCLYDE Council has launched an investigation after a sum of cash was reported missing from health and social care budgets – with official remaining tight-lipped about the details of the probe. The discrepancy came to light as part of an internal...
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COCAINE BUST MAN JAILED
A MAN who was caught storing a haul of cocaine worth more than £900,000 in his home has been jailed for four years. Police officers who carried out a search of Paul Anderson’s property in Greenock found in excess of 11 kilos of the Class A drug after...
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GIRL BORN WITH HOLE IN HEART TO RUN HALF MARATHON
AN INSPIRATIONAL teenager born with a hole in her heart who has overcome a series of complex health challenges is gearing up to run a half marathon to help struggling families across Inverclyde. Superstar Keely-Hannah Graham will fly the flag for...
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DRUNKEN THUG BRAWLED WITH NINE POLICE OFFICERS
A DRUNKEN thug brawled with nine police officers after drinking prosecco with his mum and her friends in a house in Greenock’s west end. Jake Rae adopted a ‘fighting stance’ and said ‘Police? Aye, ’mon then,’ when officers arrived at the home early in...
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RETIREMENT MOVE HAS BEEN ‘UTTER NIGHTMARE’
A PENSIONER says his dream of a quiet retirement in Kilmacolm has turned into an ‘utter nightmare’ due to a series of problems with his home. Robert Edgar has stopped paying Glasgow-based Newton Property Management a factoring fee of between £16,000...
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PERVERT CAUGHT WITH SICKENING ABUSE VIDEOS
A GREENOCK pervert who discussed kidnapping children and raping a girl in a graveyard has been locked up for his twisted crimes. Calvin McFarlane was one of three men who contributed to a sickening stash of child abuse images which experienced police...
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DRUGS AND VIOLENCE TERRIFY COMMUNITY
OPEN drug use, weapon carrying and violence have become part of daily life on a problem street in Port Glasgow’s town centre, concerned residents have told the Telegraph. Locals say they are increasingly worried about anti-social behaviour in and...
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‘REHAB SAVED MY LIFE AFTER 10-YEAR DRUG BATTLE’
AN inspirational dad says an Inverclyde rehabilitation centre has saved his life after a 10year battle with cocaine and Valium. was in denial about his addiction until he faced the prospect of losing his son.
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FAMILY HONOURS MEMORY OF TON CAMPAIGNER
THE family of a Port Glasgow war hero who helped lead the fight to save Greenock Morton during the club’s darkest days are supporting Ardgowan Hospice in his memory. Former RAF veteran Andy Morrison lost his 18-month battle with lung cancer two years...
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TEEN IS FOUND SERIOUSLY INJURED
DETECTIVES are investigating an incident in Port Glasgow after a teenager was found with ‘serious injuries’ in the early hours on Monday morning. The 16-year-old boy was found in the King Street area of the town at around 4.20am, sparking the...
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RCH REPAIR TIMES TRIPLE IN 3 YEARS
THE time taken for Inverclyde’s biggest social landlord to carry out routine repairs has tripled in three years, new figures have revealed. Figures from the Scottish Housing Regulator show River Clyde Homes (RCH) now takes an average of more than 31...
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‘SCAFFOLDING IS KILLING MY PUB’ .
A PUB landlord in Greenock says trade has more than halved after scaffolding and props were put up outside his business earlier this year. Brian Keenan, who owns the Carnock Bar, says factor McTavish and Co put up the props to secure an unsafe...
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HONOURING THE BOY WHO NEVER CAME HOME
FAMILY, friends and former comrades will gather this weekend to mark the 50th anniversary of the death of a Royal Navy sailor from Greenock who lost his life in a tragic accident. Gerard Hoey was only 17 when his ship, HMS Fittleton, sank after a...
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TEEN PULLED BLADE ON DAD OVER RAVE TICKETS
A TEENAGE thug brandished a knife at his dad and spat at his mum after he was unable to buy tickets for a rave. Nico Soulier, 19, became abusive when there were issues with an online payment for an event in Manchester, leaving his parents ‘at breaking...
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£1.3M DRUG TRIO JAILED
THREE men caught after a £1.3m cannabis factory raid in Greenock have been jailed for a total of 12 years. Ariel Ruko, 24, Giap Ba Thai, 51, and Ervin Guri, 38, were snared after police swooped at the former Tobacco Warehouse on June 5, 2025. Lord...
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‘I TRIED TO SAVE A8 CRASH CYCLIST’
A TRAINEE nurse who rushed to help after a crash in which cyclist Iain McTavish died has told of how she tried to help the man who was fatally injured at the scene. Jennifer Calder, 24, pulled over and ran to the scene on the A8 near Langbank last week.
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CARE FIRM COLLAPSES
A TOTAL of 45 jobs will be affected by the closure of an Inverclyde business, with several staff facing redundancy. Karma Healthcare managing director Jim Steele (right) has revealed that the care service will cease operation today. In July, Jim told...
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EASDALES TAKING MINISTERS TO COURT
A JUDGE has granted permission for two billionaire Inverclyde businessmen to pursue legal action against the Scottish Government after their Greenock-based bus business didn’t receive public money. Lady Ross told lawyers on Friday that she was...
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‘DAD WAS ONE IN A MILLION’
A BUNCH of brave siblings have paid tribute to their ‘one-in-a -million dad’ who passed away doing something he loved in his favourite place in the world. Robert Marshall, 70, died unexpectedly last month at Ardleish during his 108th walk along the...
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TRIBUTES AFTER A8 TRAGEDY
TRIBUTES have been paid to ‘one of cycling’s good guys’ after a fatal crash on the A8 on Tuesday night. Cyclist Iain McTavish, 46, was killed and two other cyclists were injured in a collision involving a blue Ford C-Max Zetec just to the west of the...
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TRIAL DATE SET OVER ‘PILLOW MURDER BID’
A GREENOCK man is to stand trial at the High Court next year charged with attempting to suffocate his partner in an alleged murder bid. Stuart Taylor denies assaulting the woman at an address in the town on April 6, 2025. The 35-year-old allegedly...
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LOCALS SAY NO TO PLANNED DATA CENTRE
COUNCILLORS, community leaders and hundreds of locals have thrown their weight behind calls to reject plans for a massive data centre at the former IBM site in Greenock. The proposed facility, lodged by Slate Island Developments Ltd, would see an...
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JOBS FACE AXE AS PUB CALLS LAST ORDERS
DOZENS of jobs are expected to be lost after a Greenock pub confirmed it will close its doors next month. The Tail O’ The Bank is set to shut in October after a sale subject to contract was agreed. It is understood the closure will result in...
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20MPH LIMIT ‘IGNORED’
CONCERNED Inverclyde mums say they fear for their children’s safety as figures reveal where ‘dangerous’ drivers are least likely to obey new 20mph limits. The restrictions were introduced on more than 1,000 roads across Inverclyde in April as part of...
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DAD’S MILLIONMETRE TRIBUTE
A DEVOTED dad who spent decades shaping the hearts and minds of Inverclyde’s young people has described how the death of his own daughter 26 years ago is still inspiring him today. Former teacher Hugh Stewart’s daughter Jolene was just four years old...
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Man breached order ‘to help pal’
A GREENOCK man breached a court order because he was trying to help a friend who was suicidal, the town’s sheriff court has heard.
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TRAPPED ON HER 70TH BIRTHDAY
A DISABLED pensioner is today spending her 70th birthday trapped in her flat because of a broken-down lift at her sheltered housing complex. Margaret Devaney had hoped to spend her big day celebrating with her friends and neighbours in John Galt...
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ROGUE RIDERS ARE PUTTING LIVES AT RISK
YOUNG people are riding e-scooters the wrong way down one of the busiest roads in Inverclyde, a Greenock councillor has warned. Natasha McGuire says she has received reports of young people riding in the wrong direction along the A78 in the south-west...
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SHOPLIFTING IS GETTING WORSE
SHOPS across Inverclyde are being hit by a surge in thefts as new figures reveal shoplifting has more than doubled in a year. Retailers told the Telegraph they are taking steps to protect their businesses, from removing popular target items from...
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END OF THE ROAD FOR . BELVILLE BLOCKS
OWNER-OCCUPIERS living in ‘unsafe’ blocks of flats in Greenock face losing their homes after being told that all the properties are set to be demolished. The Telegraph revealed last year that River Clyde Homes (RCH) had found the unsafe construction...
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‘THERE IS SO MUCH LOVE FOR JESSICA’
A COURAGEOUS girl who has undergone years of gruelling chemotherapy and brain surgeries to treat a tumour in her head has been given much-needed good news – after doctors told her family that her condition has stabilised for the first time in five...
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BULLRING DIVERSION ‘NIGHTMARE’
GREENOCK residents have raised fears that a ‘huge’ increase in traffic on a busy road is putting their safety at risk. The surge in vehicles on Regent Street and Lynedoch Street is being blamed on the work to demolish the Bullring roundabout and the...
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IT’S TIME TO ACT
SCOTLAND’S First Minister visited Inverclyde yesterday for crunch talks on the area’s jobs crisis – and left in no doubt about the need for action to match the Scottish Government’s warm words. John Swinney met Inverclyde Council’s leader, local MSP...
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PARTY’S OVER
A PAIR of party crashers have been jailed for more than a year after they broke up a Gourock birthday bash by threatening teenage revellers with blades. Stuart Taylor, 35, and Andrew Rennie, 26, barged into a property on November 12 last year and...
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‘PARKING PLANS WILL BE TRICKY FOR TRADE’
BOLLARDS will be installed on Greenock’s controversial cycle path as part of a raft of new measures to improve parking on West Blackhall Street - but furious business owners fear the plans risk making trading conditions even more...
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95p TOWN BACKS THE TON
MORTON directors praised the ‘overwhelming’ response of supporters who contributed more than £27,000 to a newly-launched fighting fund within just 48 hours.
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‘THE DAY WE NEVER THOUGHT WE WOULD SEE’
A MIRACLE baby who wasn’t expected to survive when she was born 15 weeks premature has skipped off to school for the first time - a day her mum admitted she thought she’d never see. Little Freya Rose weighed less than a bag of sugar when she made her...
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Driver le woman with leg fracture
A DRIVER seriously injured a pedestrian while reversing at speed on a one-way street in Port Glasgow town centre, as she returned to her own vehicle, a court has heard.
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FURIOUS DAD SLAMS ‘FILTHY’ HOLIDAY PARK
A FURIOUS father has told how he had to endure ‘filthy and unhygienic’ conditions after forking out for ‘gold standard’ accommodation at an Inverclyde caravan resort to celebrate his daughter’s 10th birthday. Holidaymaker Richard McDowall slammed the...
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‘WRITING HAS HELPED EASE PAIN CAUSED BY END-STAGE . CANCER’
AN AUTHOR who is fighting end-stage cancer – and who went to school in Greenock at the same time one of Scotland’s best-known wordsmiths – says writing is giving him the strength he needs to live well with his diagnosis. Iain McGilp was diagnosed with...
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‘POSTAL LOTTERY’
A FED-UP Greenock man has hit out at Inverclyde’s ‘postal lottery’ after Royal Mail failed to deliver to his house for TWO months. Billy McVicar, who lives in Gibshill, ended up joining a queue at the Greenock sorting office to collect his own...
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‘I RISK MY LIFE JUST TO CROSS . ROAD’
A DISABLED man says he’s being forced to risk his life because of a lack of dropped kerbs near his home. Wheelchair user Mohammad Moghadamshad, who is known as Shad, says that in order to reach his nearest bus stop, he has no alternative but to go on...
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SUPERMARKET SWIPE
A SUPERMARKET worker punched his colleague in the face after they had an argument about stacking shelves in the run-up to Christmas. Paul Molloy, 37, admitted to hitting a fellow staff member at the Tesco store in Port Glasgow last year.
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DAD-OF-4 EX-ARMY TRANSLATOR JAILED FOR . TAXI RAPE
A FORMER translator for the British Army who raped a Greenock woman in his taxi has been jailed for seven years. Abdul Nabizada, 36, subjected the female passenger to the horrific ordeal on a journey in Edinburgh in 2021. Jurors at the High Court in...
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‘WE ARE JUST WAITING FOR THE ROOF TO COME OFF’
A FRUSTRATED homeowner who says she is just waiting for her property’s ‘dangerous’ roof to come crashing down is pleading for housing bosses to carry out repairs. Afghanistan veteran Anne Marie Boggie told the Telegraph she is facing serious issues...
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MUM RAISES FUNDS FOR TREATMENT
A DEVOTED Inverkip mum who is battling a life-limiting condition is raising money to fund pioneering stem cell treatment which she hopes will allow her more years of making memories with her daughter. Nicole McKenzie was diagnosed with Multiple...
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ABUSER SPARED JAIL AFTER ASSAULT . LEFT WOMAN WITH MEMORY LOSS
A VIOLENT brute who struck a woman so hard on the head that she lost her memory has been ordered to pay £3,000 in compensation to the victim. Street, admitted to repeatedly hitting the woman on the head and causing her to fall to the ground with a...
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OFFICERS ASSAULTED ‘ON WEEKLY BASIS’
LEADING figures in local policing say an ‘unacceptable’ level of physical abuse is being directed towards officers. New statistics show that the area’s police were subjected to assaults on a weekly basis in 2025 – with staff injured on at least 15...
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GANGS OF YOUTHS VANDALISE GARDEN .
GANGS of youths have caused damage worth thousands of pounds at an award-winning community garden in Greenock. Vandals have repeatedly targeted the Belville Community Garden, breaking equipment and scrawling graffiti over the building and nearby...
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‘TRAPPED’ BY ROADWORKS
A SEVERELY disabled man who suffers from a degenerative bone condition says he feels trapped in his home because of the disruption caused by major Greenock roadworks. Alex Story, who lives in Branchton, says that he can no longer get the bus to where...
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SCAMMERS TARGET REFUGEES
SICK scammers have used a twisted online scheme to target Ukrainian families who were forced to flee to Inverclyde from their war-torn country. Marina Gorbunova, founder of Inverclyde Ukrainian Club, says the group were duped by fraudsters who were...
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FURY AS GARDEN LEFT COVERED IN SEWAGE
A HORRIFIED Greenock resident has hit out at a failure to fix a broken drainage pipe which is spewing sewage into his garden for months. Outraged Robert Hotchkiss, 65, has turned to environmental health in a bid to get the public health hazard...
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TEEN’S MUM ‘DISGUSTED’ BY CHURCH VOLUNTEER’S SENTENCING
THE mum of a teenage girl who received a series of ‘inappropriate’ messages from a 66-year-old Greenock church volunteer says she was ‘disgusted’ to see him escape with a £450 fine. Bruce Renfrew pleaded guilty to a charge of behaving in a threatening...
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HOSPICE UNIT WILL SHUT FOR WEEKS5
ARDGOWAN Hospice’s inpatient unit in Greenock is to close for up to a month amid challenges around the recruitment of senior medical cover. The Telegraph understands arrangements are being made to move patients currently being cared for in the ward to...
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MIRACLE ON THE MOUNTAIN
A GOUROCK mountaineer says she’s lucky to be alive after a horror accident left her trapped on Europe’s highest mountain - sparking a miracle rescue which was led by her firefighter fiance. Lucy McKeegan and partner Calum Jamieson, a Greenock...
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WASP HIVE SWARMS FLAT
A FRUSTRATED Greenock tenant who has ‘come under attack’ from thousands of wasps in his home has slammed housing bosses for failing to help him - and his pets. Craig McDonald, who lives in a top-floor flat in Kelly Street, has been forced to flee the...
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