RESIDENTS have hit out at an eyesore sports complex targeted by vandals as it awaits a major restoration.

The modernist style Mountblow Sports Pavilion was earmarked for an £850,000 overhaul back in February 2017.

It is to include a 3G all-weather sports and a grass pitch as well as restoring the building itself. Work started later in the year but West Dunbartonshire Council is still in the procurement process for the pitches and the building has attracted vandals with scaffolding surrounding it.

Resident Stuart Neville said he supported the project but wanted to see the site better protected.

He told the Post: “It’s almost like this work has been forgotten.

“Months on, and although the scaffolding has gone up very little work seems to have been done, the security fences protecting the site and scaffolding planks have been pulled down and there is graffiti on the upper levels of the building – difficult to achieve before the scaffolding went up.

“The council seems to have managed the remarkable trick of making things worse, not better.

“There’s little enough of architectural merit in Clydebank without letting the pavilion degrade. It’s survived arson, vandalism and the Luftwaffe, so it’ll be good to see it restored.”

Willie McLaughlan, chairman of Dalmuir and Mountblow Community Council said the only information he got on the project in recent months was procurement issues were holding up the work.

The pavilion, built around 1937, was granted C-listed building status in April this year with the Buildings at Risk register highlighting the poor condition and vandalism at the site since 2004.

Inspection in 2013 said the building overall was in fair condition while the changing rooms were in use.

Singer CFC is among the teams who play at Mountblow, described as the biggest pitch for 50 miles.

A spokeswoman for WDC said: “Work is due to recommence at the pavilion following the imminent installation of a security enclosure to deter vandals. This will ensure pavilion works can still progress while the procurement process for the sports pitches is ongoing.”