A GLASGOW city centre scheme to curb late-night violence is being extended to the West End.

A GLASGOW city centre scheme to curb late-night violence is being extended to the West End.

A new Nite Zone in Byres Road will have increased police patrols, a marshalled taxi rank outside Hillhead Subway station and long-awaited CCTV.

The scheme has run successfully in Sauchiehall Street and Gordon Street since 2005 and has helped lead to a drop in assaults of up to 30%.

Glasgow Community and Safety Services, a partnership between police and the city council, is expected to rubber-stamp the proposal at a meeting on Tuesday.

The Nite Zone will be launched in time for the busy run-up to Christmas.

Extra services that may be provided, depending on funding, will include first-aid facilities on Byres Road and extra buses and taxis.

Councillor Jim Coleman, chairman of Glasgow Community Safety Services, said: "This will be the first time the Nite Zone has operated outside the city centre.

"Byres Road has a very busy nightlife. We've realised for some time there is an issue there - especially at night when thousands spill out of pubs and clubs.

"The idea in setting up a Nite Zone is to get people out of the area as quickly as possible.

"Currently there's an unsupervised taxi rank outside Hillhead Subway station - we want to operate it like the successful marshalled ranks in Sauchiehall Street and Gordon Street.

"The Nite Zone will show that we're not just sticking to policing the city centre."

Mr Coleman also revealed Byres Road would get permanent CCTV - a move the community has long called for, as reported in Monday's Evening Times.

We told how Byres Road and Kilmarnock Road, Shawlands, did not have one camera between them.

The lack of CCTV on Byres Road was branded a "ridiculous oversight" by campaigner John Coubrough, organiser of traders and residents group Safewatch.

He welcomed the new CCTV, but said: "The full length of Byres Road would need three cameras - stretching from Dumbarton Road to Great Western Road - to operate surveillance effectively."

Some of the funding for the Nite Zone will come from the Scottish Government - which is set to announce on Monday it will give communities across Scotland £1million to tackle alcohol-fuelled violence.