Dunfermline: Headwell residents urged to call police about drug crime

Residents have been urged to contact the police over ongoing issues in the city’s Headwell Avenue, as one local councillor identified the area as a hotspot for the use of illegal substances and anti-social behaviour.

Councillor Gordon Pryde, who represents Dunfermline North, said there are drug dealers in the area, and is calling on residents of the street, which had previously been labelled 'Dunfermline's Forgotten Street', to take action and go to the police with any information they have.

He said: “There would appear to be a bit of dealing happening particularly around that area, and we’re encouraging people to go to the police. You can also use Crimestoppers if you want to report something anonymously.

“A number of months back we did a bit of a door knock and letter drop campaign in that area to encourage people to contact the authorities when they see criminal activity.

“It goes hand in hand with other problems. There are issues with anti-social behaviour on Headwell Avenue such as frequent comings and goings at all times of the day, noise, and some incidents in the street.”

Residents have found drug paraphernalia including used needles in the street, which is close to Queen Anne High School.

Councillor Pryde said: “It’s not appropriate to have needles lying about in the street. It’s not commonplace but it’s not a one off.”

Community representatives don’t believe that it’s going to an easy fix, although the situation has improved over the past couple of years.

Peter O’Sullivan of the Headwell Community Council said: “It'll take a long time because it’s something that you can never stop.

"If you take them out of Headwell Avenue and put them somewhere else it’s just going to happen there, so it’s a hard thing for the council.

“It’s still an ongoing problem but it isn’t as bad as it was two or three years ago. It has vastly improved and the police seem to be on top of it.

“The police are very good, and they do come along to the community council meetings”

Last year patrols were carried out by local police along with Safer Communities and Fife Council, with the aim of reassuring residents that action was being taken.

Councillors and police officers patrol the area in 2023. Picture credit: Councillor Gavin Ellis (Image: Councillor Gavin Ellis) In 2020, a resident told the Press that Headwell Avenue had become Dunfermline’s “forgotten street”, believing that the area was left behind when vast improvements were made in other areas such as Broomhead and Abbeyview.

Talking about the scale of the problem back then, Mr O’Sullivan said: “Someone in the bottom flat had to have his legs amputated because of the misuse of drugs, and there was a person found in that flat because they’d overdosed on drugs. A couple of months after that someone was found dead at Headwell avenue.

“Those houses have been raided two or three times and the police are on top of it, but there are other places on the street that are selling drugs.”

In March the Press reported that a raid had taken place on the street.

Stressing that problems to do with drugs are more widespread in the City, Mr Pryde said: “It has been a bit of a hotspot in the past for that sort of activity, but it’s an issue which isn’t unique to Headwell.”