A former nurse who has campaigned about contaminated land in her home town had her car firebombed in a shock attack.
Lesley Roberts has raised concerns about toxic substances on the former Ravenscraig Hospital site in Greenock and believes it has caused sickness among staff who worked there.
She fears she may have been targeted after highlighting ongoing concerns about toxins on the site.
Lesley was in her house with her partner when she saw afire engine pass at o.
At almost the same time a neighbour knocked on her door to say that her silver Skoda Fabia estate car, which she had bought five weeks ago, was ablaze.
Police found a plastic bottle containing a substance they believe to be petrol lying close by. Choking back tears, Lesley said: “I’ve had a lot of stuff happen to me but I’ve never had a car firebombed before.
“I know with the Ravenscraig stuff people have been targeted for speaking out.”
She added: “The police are concerned enough to have put a rapid response alarm on the house.”
But Lesley vowed that despite being shaken up by the incident, she would not stop her campaign.
She used to work at the former hospital and told how she and other staff repeatedly complained about water quality. But she claimed that nothing was ever done to properly address it.
Lesley and fellow campaigners fear part of the land sold off more than a decade ago for housing may also be contaminated and could potentially cause illness to those who now live on it.
Contamination on the 83-acre site was revealed in a report carried out in 2017 by consultants Fairhurst for a housing company.
The developers were told that before houses were built remediation measures needed to be undertaken with “regard to human health in some areas of the site”. It is understood the Ravenscraig site had been used as an industrial dump for the area.
Lesley has demanded answers from Inverclyde Council. She has also asked the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency to investigate the contamination and has called for a public inquiry.
An NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde spokesman said: “Ravenscraig, like many historical sites, was found to have sources of potential contamination but a risk assessment found these to be of moderate-to-low risk.
“This was further backed up by Inverclyde Council which concluded it was ‘not likely to present a significant risk to human health or the wider environment.’”
Police Scotland confirmed they were alerted at about 10.50pm on Tuesday. They said: “The fire was extinguished by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and no one was injured. The fire is being treated as wilful and inquiries are ongoing.”
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