THE 40th anniversary of Kennishead Avenue flats has been celebrated with an open day - and a cake for the longest resident.

THE 40th anniversary of Kennishead Avenue flats has been celebrated with an open day - and a cake for the longest resident.

From his 21st-storey home Bill Lambie has a stunning view of Glasgow and beyond.

But yesterday, he had only to look down several hundred feet to see his friends and neighbours mark the special occasion.

Widower Bill, 79, is the longest continuous resident of the flats and chairman of Kennishead Avenue Local Management, which manages the homes on behalf of Glasgow Housing Association.

Building work started on the flats in 1965 and the first tenants moved in three years later.

Bill and his late wife Anne moved here to a two-bedroom flat from Nicholson Street in the Gorbals in November 1968.

He said: "When we first came here, we could even see the QE2 being fitted out at John Brown's in Clydebank."

But Bill feels that high-rise flats have suffered from the way they are portrayed on TV.

He said: "In programmes like The Bill, the police never go to a high-rise but the lifts aren't working. I've walked up my stairs through choice but never because the lifts weren't working.

"That's a typical thing, like high-rises being full of drug addicts.

"There are drug-addicts everywhere. It's a pandemic problem, not just a particular problem for multi-storeys.

"There's also a cliche that you're isolated here, that old people feel isolated. Well, I'll be 80 this year, and I don't feel isolated."

GHA said the Kennishead blocks have had more than £2m in investment since stock transfer in 2003, including new kitchens, bathrooms and re-wires.

The flats have also seen the arrival of asylum-seekers in recent years.

The first came from Afghanistan, and Bill and Anne attended a welcoming party organised by the Rev Graeme Bell, of Carnwardric Church of Scotland.

He said: "One 12-year-old said to Anne, you're going to be my new grandmother.

"They are very hard-working people, very sociable."

Families currently living in the flats come originally from Russia, Congo, Poland, Cameroon and Algeria.

KALM housing manager Kathleen Stewart said: "The open day is designed to bring the community together through fun events.

"The 40th anniversary is a marvellous milestone."

40th ANNIVERSARY PICTURE GALLERY