Police chiefs in the Highlands have promised a nine-to-five beat bobby presence in the centre of Inverness in a bid to tackle antisocial behaviour.
Officers will make increased patrols of the city and have now set up an office for the first time within the Inverness Town House.
Members of the force’s Community Beats Unit work in partnership with a number of agencies as part of the Inverness Response Team which is specifically tasked with dealing with “low-level” anti-social behaviour.
The team, which includes representatives from Highland Council, the fire service, Inverness Street Pastors and Inverness Bid, has previously been focused on dealing in cases of disorder within homes across the city.
The police unit, which was previously based at Burnett Road station, have moved to their new town house base with their agency partners either based in the building or nearby.
As part of the move police will increase their visibility in the city centre with two officers committed to patrolling the streets during the daytime.
The team will focus on various types of disorderly behaviour, including public drinking, vandalism and graffiti.
Inspector Andrew Blakey of the Community Beats unit said: “It was always part of a longer-term plan to have agencies working under the same roof in order to assist joint working.
“From today (Wednesday) the Community Beats officers will have an office within the Town House. This has been achieved within 18 months of the start of the Inverness Response Team and is an indication of the determination of all the partners to work closer together in order to achieve better outcomes and be more effective in tackling anti-social behaviour.
“One additional benefit of the office will be an enhanced presence of uniformed officers within the city centre.
He stressed that the new office would not function as an operational police station which remains based at Burnett Road.
Since September 2014 the response team has dealt with more than 700 referrals and said that the number of repeat offenders has substantially decreased.
City provost Councillor Helen Carmichael said: “Police Scotland are a key partner in the work with partners of our Inverness Response Team.
“This initiative has been extremely successful and the early intervention has led to a reduction in anti-social behaviour in the Inverness area and a safer and more pleasant environment for our communities.”