Residents of Balvicar Drive in Glasgow are demanding action after claims that residents of the Queen's Park Hotel have been openly injecting heroin on the pavement outside the property.
The latest incident, which occurred on the evening of Friday, August 22, saw a group of people reportedly sitting on the pavement and using drugs, with lighters being used to prepare them. This came just days after a 31-year-old man was stabbed on the street on August 11, an incident that led to two arrests.
Residents report repeated incidents
One resident who contacted the Daily Record said: "We phoned the police at 9.30 on Friday night to report suspected drug use on the pavement. Lighters were being used to prepare drugs. Police attended and searched two individuals but there were no arrests. There was also a bottle thrown at another neighbour from someone from the hotel on the street."
The resident said everyone is worried about how such anti-social behaviour has been normalised. She added: "There doesn't even seem to be an attempt to hide it. On Saturday we watched again as a group of eight people blocking the pavement and using drugs and alcohol for more than an hour while waiting for police to arrive. In our experience, alcohol and drug use can be the precursor to much more serious incidents later in the evening. Having witnessed countless incidents and raised concerns with the council over a number of years, I genuinely don't know what level of serious incident it will take before the suitability of this accommodation is properly addressed."
Dossier circulated to authorities
After the latest outrage, a dossier of incidents from the street was circulated to Police Scotland, MSPs and Glasgow City Council. In a covering letter, the author writes: "I am writing to raise renewed concerns regarding Queens Park Hotel, 10 Balvicar Drive, G42 8QT, following further serious incidents on Balvicar Drive and substantial alterations which have increased the capacity of the hotel. These concerns are not new. Local residents, the Community Council and elected representatives engaged extensively with Glasgow City Council, Glasgow City HSCP and the owners of Queens Park Hotel in 2022 regarding both the suitability of the accommodation for vulnerable people and its impact on the surrounding residential community. Four years later, many of those concerns remain. Rather than the use of this type of accommodation diminishing as the community was told was intended, Queens Park Hotel has been substantially expanded."
The resident also details how a police cordon was set up on Friday night after reports of a stabbing, although Police Scotland later said the incident turned out to be a medical matter and not an assault. He states: "On Saturday evening at approximately 21:30, I contacted Police Scotland after observing around eight residents of Queens Park Hotel sitting on the pavement opposite our property and openly using drugs. Police attended at approximately 22:40 and searched a number of individuals. Later that night, there was reportedly a serious incident involving a reported stabbing on Balvicar Drive and the street was placed behind a police cordon. CID officers subsequently attended my home making enquiries. This was the second incident on Balvicar Drive within approximately ten days and the second time during that period that our street had been placed behind a police cordon. This comes against a much longer history of community safety concerns associated with Queens Park Hotel."
Over 700 incidents linked to hotel
The Daily Record recently reported that more than 700 police incidents were associated with the hotel between 2020 and June 2025. The resident also rages about the expansion in capacity of the hotel, even after a host of crimes were committed. He adds: "Given the combination of serious community safety concerns, increased capacity and questions about the conditions being provided to vulnerable residents, I would be grateful if these matters could be considered collectively rather than simply as separate planning, building standards, homelessness and community safety issues."
A Glasgow City Council spokeswoman said: "We are in regular contact with our accommodation providers across the city to identify further steps that can be taken to address the behaviours of residents. We encourage people to access treatment and support including harm reduction wherever necessary. This includes making use of The Thistle where they can do so indoors, safely and without judgement."
