TWO online petitions have been launched as Lochgelly residents clash over the youth shelter in the public park.

One side wants the shelter, located at the bottom of the park, to be removed while others have made the case for its retention.

Paul McGowan is eager for the structure, which he has described as a "drinking den", to be taken down.

In his petition, he stated: "For over five years this shelter has been the hub for a continuous stream of anti-social behaviour leading to noise, vandalism, fires, widespread litter and broken bottles instigated by drunken teenage youths from Lochgelly and nearby towns.

"Broken glass bottles are left strewn across the pathways and grass that have incurred a number of expensive vet bills for local residents.

"Until recently, hundreds of shards of glass were all over the pathways of the park. Even though a litter bin is placed at the shelter, it is never used and litter every weekend litter is left strewn across the park.

"Youths steal residents' bins and even take the nearby recycling bins into the park to set fire to them.

"In the last two years the fire service has been called out 53 times and once received violent intimidation from the youths.

"The council operatives come out dutifully and try and clean up the “Groundhog Day” mess, but it happens every couple of days.

"The police are operationally incapable of dealing with the constant callouts by residents, and often the police never turn up.

"Residents are often frightened to be in the park late at night due to congregation of drunken youths and this has led to one pensioner being assaulted.

"Fife Council Management have failed under their Occupiers' Liability to deal with this situation and ensure safety for all users of the park.

"The elected officials and local community council do not wish to deal with the situation so it is up to the residents of Lochgelly to make their views known.

"Time for this drinking den to GO!".

The Change.org petition has gained scores of signatures and its creation prompted another to be formed in support of the shelter's place in the community.

Josh Salmon has argued that the shelter is a place, "for young people to socialise" and "taking that away would not be the right decision".

His petition states: "The local shelter in Lochgelly is a place for young people to socialise.

"Taking that away would not be the right decision because it is a place where young people all over Fife can come and socialise.

"I understand about the mess, but you have to get it from our point of view: there is one bin around that area that is broken.

"There is a small minority of people that will set fires and graffiti and we would love for that not to happen and we try, but there is only so much we can do at such a young age.

"If you were to take the shelter away that would most likely end up in us staying in our houses being glued to our Xbox/Playstation which we all know bugs the life out of our parents, but it will also cause us to stop socialising in real life instead of it only being on our phones.

"All we are asking as that we get more bins around that area and if the mess doesn’t start to clear up, do as you wish.

"We do hope you understand our point of view in this situation."

Fife Council is aware of both petitions and the reported anti-social behaviour.

Sarah Roxburgh, community manager, commented: "We are aware of local concerns about anti-social behaviour in the park and we're working with councillors and partners including the police to encourage more responsible behaviour from young people using the park.

"We had a meeting recently to discuss a range of options including improvements to lighting and pathways and increased patrols in the area.

"We will always welcome local views and opinions and, if petitions are submitted, they will be discussed at a future meeting of the Area Committee."

Local police are also aware of anti-social behaviour in the public park, and have encouraged locals to report any incidents.

“We are aware of reports of anti-social behaviour in Lochgelly and no-one should tolerate this kind of behaviour, it is unacceptable and hurts communities," said Inspector Gavin Cameron.

“Please do not suffer in silence. If you are victim of or witness to this type of behaviour then report it to the police, whether by calling 101 or speaking with local police officers.

“Where it is clear to us that there is a particular issue in a particular area, we will devote the appropriate resources, along with our partners to try to alleviate the problem.

“Such actions are directly influenced by what the public tells us.”