Fire-ravaged remains of Glasgow building to be demolished

The remaining section of a historic Glasgow building wrecked by a fire is to be demolished.

Glasgow City Council said the decision was made due to public safety concerns with parts of the building on Union Corner, next to Glasgow Central Station, continuing to fall off since Sunday's blaze.

The news came as the first minister said details of financial support for businesses affected by the fire would be set out very soon.

The fire spread from a vape shop on Union Street through the B-listed Victorian building on Sunday night, leaving it in ruins. Firefighters remain at the scene to continue to cool any remaining hot spots.

There were no casualties in the blaze.

Glasgow City Council took control of the building from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service earlier and were able to carry out an assessment of the damaged structure for the first time.

In a statement, the local authority said: "We are now in control of the Union Street site, and after a full and final assessment of the remaining structure, has decided that demolition must happen in the interests of public safety.

"Scottish Fire and Rescue Service are still on site to take care of remaining hot spots."

The council has not yet announced when the demolition will be carried out.

Glasgow MSP Paul Sweeney was critical of the decision to demolish the building "within a matter of hours of the site being handed over".

He said he had asked both the first minister and the city council to bring in conservation-accredited engineers to assess the site, but had not received any responses.

He said: "Like at the Ayr Station Hotel, elements of this iconic listed building which could be preserved may now be destroyed unnecessarily.

"I hope that Glasgow City Council will at least laser scan the surviving elevation to enable a faithful reinstatement and undertake a careful hand demolition process that can 'flat pack' as much of the surviving structure as possible if a retaining scaffolding cannot be erected to all or part of the façade."

During First Minister's Questions John Swinney told MSPs the Scottish government has been in discussions with Glasgow City Council over supporting local businesses and that the government was also looking at ways to regulate vape shops.

He said the local authority was gathering information from affected businesses, and details of financial support would be announced soon.

Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay said help for local firms should be the immediate focus, while Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar called for an investigation into the resourcing of the fire service.

Sarwar claimed high-reach appliances in the city had been cut from six to two, both of which were off for annual inspection on the night in question. This meant one had to be called through from Edinburgh.

Swinney said resources required to tackle the fire were available.

The Scottish government has also announced a ministerial board was being established to co-ordinate recovery efforts.

Justice Secretary Angela Constance will chair the board, which is tasked with supporting recovery efforts in the most effective way. Susan Aitken, the leader of Glasgow City Council, will join the group's meetings.

It will also oversee development of a support package to aid in the recovery process.

Some train services at Glasgow Central Station - beside the destroyed building - resumed on Wednesday after the weekend fire.

The station's low level platforms, which serve the Argyle line north of the River Clyde, reopened after a full site assessment, but the main high level station is to remain closed for the rest of the week due to the "high level of instability" of the fire-damaged facade.

What was the building that burned down?

Known as Union Corner, at the junction of Union Street and Gordon Street, the B-listed building was constructed in 1851 and pre-dates Glasgow Central Station itself, which opened in 1879.

Designed by architect James Brown of the firm Brown & Carrick, it was built for Francis Orr & Sons - a well-known Glaswegian stationery and publishing company.

For years there was an Irn Bru advert on the rooftop and a red neon Bells sign on the dome itself, which made it a distinctive landmark in the city.

Among the businesses that until recently occupied the ground floor were the Blue Lagoon fish and chip shop and Sexy Coffee.