Precarious crane being taken down

The crane and scaffolding have been declared unsafe Enlarge Image

A crane affected by a huge fire in a block of flats in Edinburgh at the weekend is being dismantled.

Work to take down the huge structure, at a construction site in Albion Gardens, started on Wednesday at about 0930 BST.

Other cranes are removing the structure, owned by German crane company Liebherr, bit by bit.

It is hoped residents who were removed from nearby flats for their own safety will be able to move back on Thursday.

A police spokeswoman said: "The crane and scaffolding have been making the site unsafe, which has stopped our officers from being able to go in to conduct an investigation into what caused the fire."

Saify Naqvi, whose home is next to the site in Albion Gardens, said: "I came back from the gym and they said I wasn't able to get into my flat so I came back an hour later and they were still saying the same thing.

I didn't even have my wallet so I had to spend the first night in my car Saify Naqvi Albion Gardens resident

"There was no support to say you can go to a place for the night or a phone number with information.

"I didn't even have my wallet so I had to spend the first night in my car. It was bitterly cold all night."

Shadi Darvish, who works from her home in Albion Gardens, said: "We have been treated absolutely appallingly, it's a disaster which has happened so they (Edinburgh City Council) should at least communicate with us.

"They only asked for our numbers three days after the event and said they would be setting up a text information service in a couple of days but that is almost a week, which is just not good enough.

"There has been a complete lack of information and all we want to know is what is going on."

Text message

A 45m exclusion zone was set up on Monday around the crane which was described as "precarious".

About 50 properties close to the Albion Gardens site were evacuated following Saturday afternoon's blaze.

The five-storey block, containing 82 flats, was under construction.

Local residents evacuated on Monday were only being allowed into their homes, escorted by police officers, to pick up essential belongings.

Mark Turley, Edinburgh City Council's director of services for communities, said: "We want to make sure that all residents who had to evacuate their homes following the fire in Albion Gardens are kept informed of the situation as it develops so that they can make alternative arrangements as necessary.

"As well as updates on the council's website, we intend to provide information by text message.

"Any residents wishing to receive these text updates is urged to register their mobile phone number with us by calling 0131 529 7311."