By Liz Fowler

MONTROSE SPORTS Centre is being subjected to daily invasions of upwards of 200 pupils from the adjacent Academy during the mid-morning break, though officially they should not be straying beyond the school premises.

Montrose councillor Terry Wood says he has been horrified at the scenes he has been witnessing, describing the noise and chaos caused by the hordes of pupils descending on the centre as seriously disturbing.

In the absence of any school staff, it is left to the centre’s leisure attendants to try and supervise them.

But Councillor Wood says the attendants, mostly female, are clearly struggling to cope.

Following incidents where pupils have been particularly disorderly, abusive, even physically aggressive, the attendants have been left feeling very vulnerable.

If expected to try and control aggressive and disorderly pupils, then surely at the very least they should be given appropriate training, said one staff member.

The pupils jostling around the area of the sports centre door where the vending machines are situated can make life difficult, even dangerous, for mothers with young children leaving from the sports centre creche facilities.

“With these kids crowding the doorway and pushing and shoving everywhere, it can be difficult getting through with a buggy,” said one young mother.

“I have complained about it before to the leisure attendants but their hands are tied to a large extent.”

“The school seems to be turning a blind eye to what is going on here.

I know the pupils have use of the centre for their gym lessons. They also come in at lunch time,” said one member of the public.

“But they shouldn’t be here at all during the mid-morning break, and it’s quite understandable that the leisure attendants here are sick and fed up of having to try and supervise them and cleaning up the mess they leave behind them.”

Councillor Wood contacted Angus Council education property department seeking assurance that the problem will be addressed immediately.

He said, “Large numbers of children are entering the sports centre using the cafe and the vending machines. The centre staff are clearly having difficulty keeping them in order.

“The cafe should be for centre users. It should not be a school tuck shop.

“I have seen the mothers, some with very young children, being buffeted as they tried to exit the building.”

He is also seeking a meeting with the Angus director of education over the school’s use of the centre for sports lessons, following complaints about lack of supervision from teaching staff, and the mess the pupils make particularly in the toilets, and boys urinating in the shower cubicles.

“I am appalled that the public are effectively being barred from the sports centre during school hours,” said Councillor Wood. “I am very concerned about the erosion of public facilities for the sake of the school.

“We have already seen an area of common good land fenced off as school sports pitches and now the school is taking over the sports centre.

“I know that £700,000 to £1 million has been earmarked for upgrading the Academy and the school should have its own sports facilities. I will be talking to the director of education in a bid to address this.”

An Angus Council spokesperson said, “Staff at the school and the sports centre are working together to address this.

“The new extension to the centre will be open shortly, creating an alternative entrance which school pupils will be required to use.

“This should reduce congestion at the main entrance when pupils are entering and leaving the building to use the cafe facilities or when attending their sports classes.

“However if any sports centre customers experience any problems they are asked to report them to staff to allow appropriate action to be taken.”