Police sweep estate in hunt for weapons

METAL detectors were used by police to search for weapons on a city housing estate as part of a month-long campaign to improve the area.

The equipment was deployed in the Calders area of Wester Hailes last week, but officers said that all the checks proved “negative”. Police chiefs also said more than 100 residents had now filled out questionnaires on local policing issues.

Meanwhile, firefighters visited homes to fit free smoke detectors and patrols by environmental warden and police officers issued fixed penalty tickets for dog fouling.

A CCTV van has been patrolling the Calders in the evening with foot patrols during the day. The work has centred around the high-rise blocks of Medwin House, Dunsyre House and Cobinshaw House, which have been the scenes of murders, a string of fires and suicides over recent years.