The first, in Lochee, had seen only one person turn up, but eight people came along to Charleston Community Centre to meet constables Frank Sturrock and Colin MacColl.

As well as discussing general issues, some of the participants took the opportunity to speak to the officers about specific recent incidents and offenders.

Misbehaviour by young people was a key theme, with claims about young children seen drinking cider and secondary school pupils asking people to buy drink for them.

One man spoke about an adult seen cycling around the scheme and who is believed to be buying alcohol for under-age drinkers.

The man explained, “I think he’s a junkie. They’ll be giving him money for getting them drink.”

Youths have also been blamed for late-night disturbances and some instances of minor vandalism, including damaging rubbish bins.

The meeting also heard about damage to a caravan caused by a stolen motorcycle.

Concerns about late-night disturbances and carelessly parked vehicles were also voiced.

Some of the residents said they had contacted the police in the past about problems, but had not always received any feedback about how an incident had been dealt with.

PC Sturrock said, “We certainly try to get back to people, even if it’s the next day.”

Another method of contact between Tayside Police and the public are Ditch The Dealer leaflets, which allow people to write in with information about drug dealing.

PC MacColl said, “These have worked pretty well and we are hoping to put them on the force website so people can just print them off and send them to us.”

Work is also under way with the anti-social behaviour team to see if this system can be used to collect intelligence — given anonymously if necessary — on a greater range of alleged incidents.

Some of the residents said they had seen little of the city’s community wardens.

The officers said the force was in regular contact with the wardens to exchange information and could ask them to keep an eye on a particular area if it was felt to need extra attention.

Although it is something beyond the powers of the police, the meeting heard a call for better facilities for young people to give them something to do and keep them out of trouble.

The lack of a proper playpark was mentioned.

PC MacColl said that was an issue he would encourage people to pursue through residents’ associations.

He added, “People agree that kids need somewhere to play, but sometimes the attitude is ‘no on my doorstep’. We try to encourage diversionary activities, like street football, so the kids are not causing problems.

“There’s no point just trying to deal with them through the criminal justice system, we need to get a balance.”

After the meeting PC MacColl said it had been helpful in giving officers a better understanding of what Charleston people’s concerns were and in helping them get their own message across.

“As with a lot of other areas, it’s a mixture of youth, anti-social behaviour and drugs issues.

“We do tend to get most of our information from the community in general and this is just another means to tap in to information we might not get otherwise.

“It gives us face-to-face contact with the public and that can only be to the good of us and the community.”

— The next surgery will be on Monday at Menzieshill Library from 6-7.30pm and the last takes place at Blackness Library from 5.30-7pm on Tuesday.