A police bungle meant officers weren’t sent to tackle a gang of naked youngsters rampaging through Cowdenbeath last weekend.

Scared members of the public who watched the events unfold in the town’s public park called the police, to no avail.

Instead the gang continued themayhem unabated, setting fire to a wheelie bin and sneering at firefighters sent out to tackle the blaze.

The incident has seen ChiefSuperintendent Alan Spiers admit that “regrettably” the calls received at the police control room had not been logged correctly and local officers were notdispatched.”

Local MSP Alex Rowley questioned the effectiveness of having a police control centre miles away across the Forth.

Fife’s Glenrothes-based controlcentre closed last month and now calls are dealt with by staff in Bilston Glen.

“We were told that there would be no detrimental impact from the closureof the Fife control centre with theoperations being moved to a centre on the outskirts of Edinburgh in a move to save money.”

The Cowdenbeath MSP has written to Chief Superintendent Garry McEwan, asking him to investigate how the police responded to the incident.

“The level of behaviour in the park that local residents have to deal with is completely unacceptable and I amtaking this up with the local station in Cowdenbeath.

“But the failure of the control centre to respond is an extra worry.

“Some residents tell me they were told ‘the police don’t put out fires’ whichis just not the response they werelooking for when reporting anti-social behaviour, vandalism and fire-raising.”

Local community inspector Hannah Morrison stressed local officersdid appreciate anti-social issues inJohnston Park and Leuchatsbeath Drive, bordering the park, and were working to resolve them.

Additional patrols have been carried out by community officers and wardens over the last few weekends.

These will continue on Friday andSaturday nights for the foreseeable future to deter youngsters, she added.

Regular visits will also be made to local licensed premises to identify the issue of proxy sales of alcohol to young people.