A former Glasgow SNP councillor had to be escorted off charity premises by police after he challenged its leader over youth disorder.

Emily Cutts, who runs the G20 Works youth group, said she had had to call for help after Billy McAllister refused to leave while she was involved in a family support session.

She claimed Mr McAllister was "screaming and shouting" in her face and it took officers ten minutes to persuade him to leave the charity's base in the Wyndford area of Maryhill.

Ms Cutts says there has been some resistance to the group because it aims to take a "public health" rather than punitive approach to youth crime with teenagers and families offered a range of supports and employment training. It is backed by Police Scotland’s violence reduction unit.

Mr McAllister was elected to represent the Milton area in 2006 and was deputy leader of Glasgow City Council’s SNP group before he quit the party in 2016.

The Herald: Former Glasgow SNP councillor Billy McAllister said he was representing the community Former Glasgow SNP councillor Billy McAllister said he was representing the community (Image: Billy McAllister)

He was suspended from the SNP in 2014 following an alleged homophobic outburst.

The same year he was fined £200 by a sheriff for behaving aggressively towards a man campaigning against the bedroom tax.

READ MORE: Children are young as 10 lured to drugs in Glasgow's 'forgotten community' 

The former councillor said he commended the G20 Group for its aims but claimed youth crime has escalated since it was set up and said the community had asked him to intervene. He said he "totally refuted" the claims made by the youth group leader.

Ms Cutts said the service has been undergoing refurbishments which had meant young people did not have access to all the usual supports. 

She said Mr McAllister had demanded to speak to her privately after arriving at the charity on Monday and refused to leave after she told him she was leading a group that offers support to parents. She is considering pressing charges but said the charity was being supported by police. 

"Luckily the police were out the back and it took them ten minutes to get him out of the building," she said.

The Herald: Emily Cutts, who leads the G20 Works project Emily Cutts, who leads the G20 Works project (Image: Newsquest)

"I've been here five years and that's the most violent act we've seen in the centre.

"The behaviour he displayed - that's what we are trying to change."

She set up the group, which is inspired by a Los Angeles gang rehab project, because she wanted to create something for over-16s who were "excluded from everything".

She said she was shocked by the hopelessness she encountered in the area, claiming children as young as ten were being lured to illegal drugs.

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She mentioned that her car tyres had been slashed six times over the past few months and did not believe this had been done by young people in the area but said nothing would stop her from continuing the charity's work.

She said: "The people who are doing these things are undermining opportunities for young people.

"We came here to take a public health approach to reduce violence and help recovery. We knew that by being here we are disrupting activities because this is where drug dealing has happened.  

"If there is a problem we would urge people go to the police. We are not the police. All we can do is make sure this place is safe."

The project director led the successful and award-winning campaign, launched in 2008, to save an area of waste ground in North Kelvinside being sold off for housing by Glasgow City Council.

The Children’s Wood is now a thriving outdoor community centre, used by groups including National Theatre of Scotland.

The G20 Works group does not receive any council or Scottish Government funding and is reliant on charitable grants, which Ms Cutts said was a frustration because she believes the service could achieve much more with financial backing.

The charity will re-open in a few weeks after being given more than £20,000 by the Asda Foundation to repair and modernise the building and Ms Cutts said it hopes to recruit an addictions worker.

She said: "Funding is desperately needed. We've got people dying, we've got young people not able to eat, we've got drugs being dealt. We are trying to provide wider support."

A spokeswoman for Police Scotland said: “Around 4.45pm on Monday, police received a report of a disturbance at a premises on Dunbeith Place.

“Officers attended and suitable advice was given.”