Earlier this month he voiced concern about an apparent lack of police action over a street fight in Brook Street on a Saturday night.

A confrontation took place between groups of young men in which blood was spilled and a shop window was smashed.

Witnesses were aghast that the fight could take place — apparently without police intervening.

When Councillor Webster tried to contact the police afterwards to discuss how they were patrolling the area his call allegedly went unanswered for 10 minutes.

After he raised his concern in public, police immediately confirmed they had acted quickly and effectively in response to the Brook Street episode.

They produced a timetable which showed they had an officer on the scene within five minutes of the incident being reported to them, and confirmed they had arrested a 16-year-old youth and reported him to the procurator fiscal.

They also quickly issued a request to the cleansing department for the blood to be cleared from the pavement.

Councillor Webster accepted the police’s operational handling of the incident, and that witnesses were mistaken in thinking the police had not been quick enough on the scene.

He has now had the chance to discuss policing in Broughty Ferry with the force’s inspector for the area.

Today Councillor Webster said, “It was a very worthwhile meeting and I am pleased to have had the chance to meet the officer who is in charge of the area.

“He explained how they cover the area, and I have been given an assurance that they are giving a high priority to seeking to maintain a good and obvious presence in Broughty Ferry.

“They are also doing all they can to deal with outbreaks of trouble when it happens, and I have been encouraged by what I have been told.”

Councillor Webster added, however, that the apparent problem of phone callers not getting through to police headquarters on the Dundee 223200 number remains unresolved.

Since he raised that problem, he has been approached by constituents who told him they had the same difficulty.

He continued, “I am pursuing that matter, and I will be speaking to inspectors in the police control room about this in the near future.”

Tayside Police have pledged that their control room was fully staffed at the time Councillor Webster made his call in connection with the Brook Street incident, and that all calls which came through on 223200 would have been answered.

They had received other complaints from people said they were unable to get through on the main number, however, and the issue was the subject of an ongoing investigation by telecommunications engineers.