A POOLE councillor is calling for a closure order to be renewed at a derelict business complex as he believes it to be a “public danger”.

On Saturday, the Daily Echo reported that the council would not be taking any further action at the West Quay Marina Site as they had not received any recent reports of people breaking into the trashed site.

A three-month premises closure order expired at the end of January and is not set to be renewed.

However, Cllr Mark Howell, leader of Poole People, said he saw people inside the building when he walked past just last month and witnessed young people outside throwing lumps of concrete through the broken windows.

And when the Daily Echo visited the wrecked site recently, some of the metal barriers which had been put in place to prevent illegal access had been torn down.

Cllr Howell is urging people who witness any anti-social behaviour or vandalism at the site to report it to the police.

“The building presents a danger to young people, and I was concerned when I learned the closure order would not be renewed.

“I’m encouraging people who see any activity at the site to report it to the police and ring 999 if it’s ongoing. I’ve been in contact with council officers who say they and the police haven’t received reports of people accessing the property recently – they need to know things are going on there before a new closure order can be put in place.”

He added: “It’s not a hard building to get into so the owners should be making it more secure. It’s a public danger and an attraction for young people.

“The design of the new development is not great, in my view, but these developments have to go ahead at some point, and it would be good to see some progress at the site.”

Mark Russell, a director of developers West Quay Developments Limited, said demolition of the building could not take place until work on the new development can begin “for technical reasons”.

He added: “We still envisage development commencing this summer.”

The complex, formerly occupied by City Bay Views Chinese restaurant and other businesses, is due to be transformed into a £70 million development, which will include 291 residential apartments, 874 sqm of commercial and retail floorspace - including a restaurant - car parking, a quayside walkway and associated landscaping.