THERE'S no "easy answer" on how to stop youngsters using their free bus pass to travel to other parts of the Kingdom to cause trouble and start fights. 

Asked how they could prevent the problems from escalating, Fife Council leader David Ross said Police Scotland and the bus companies were doing what they can but admitted he didn't have a "magic bullet".

For more than a year under-22s in Scotland have been entitled to free bus travel - in February Fife Green MSP Mark Ruskell hailed it as a "huge success" - but bus operators have reported that there's also been an increase in anti-social behaviour.

 

Dunfermline Press: Councillor Jane Ann Liston said youngsters are using the free bus travel scheme to go to other areas and 'have fights'.Councillor Jane Ann Liston said youngsters are using the free bus travel scheme to go to other areas and 'have fights'. (Image: Fife Council)

At the full council meeting last week Cllr Jane Ann Liston said: "We've got an excellent young persons travel pass so our young people can access education and work free of charge on the bus. 

"However there are reports that some young people are maybe using it to whizz about to other parts of the patch and have fights and the like. 

"So what can be done to ensure this very, very small number of youngsters who are abusing the system can be tackled to stop spoiling it for the rest?"

Cllr Ross replied: "I hope you're not expecting me to have a magic bullet and tell you what the solution to this is. 

"It's one aspect of anti-social behaviour that arises and it is being addressed by the council, Stagecoach, the police and various other agencies as best they can. 

"But I don't think there's an easy answer to this issue."

By the time of the first anniversary of the scheme, in February, more than 48,000 young people in Fife - 68 per cent of those eligible - had taken up the free offer. 

But it's also been claimed that the flagship scheme is fuelling anti-social behaviour by making it easier for youngsters intent on causing trouble to congregate. 

Police previously blamed youngsters from Fife and Edinburgh for problems at a shopping centre in Livingston while First Bus said they had experienced “a slight increase” in youth disorder on its network, although they added that the rise “cannot be directly attributed” to the roll-out of the scheme.