The men, both employees of Scottish Water, went to repair a hydrant in Glasgow’s Scotstounhill area which had been vandalised and used by people to cool down during the hot weather.

However, when the workers got to the site the people who had opened the hydrant attacked them and the men were forced to leave the scene and come back in the evening once the vandals had left.

Scottish Water’s customer manager (field response), Garry Kirkwood, said: “Scottish Water adopts a zero tolerance policy towards abuse of our staff as they carry out their duties in serving our customers.

“Earlier this week we attended a number of incidents in the St George’s Cross/Maryhill area to shut down several hydrants which had been vandalised.

“Fire hydrant vandalism can cause road flooding and affect road traffic. People setting off high-powered hydrants or passing pedestrians or motorists could be injured or killed.”

Strathclyde Police’s superintendent, Grant Manders, added: “I would encourage the public to report any such incidents to their local police office.”

Luke Walsh

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