Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Brechin pub owner loses £80k of renovations in Storm Babet but vows to reopen in days

The Bridgend Bar was among hundreds of properties left under water when the River South Esk burst its banks.

Bridgend Bar, Brechin for sale
In picture: Scott McNeil of the Bridgend Bar in Brechin during the clean-up. Image: Chris Ferguson/DC Thomson

A Brechin pub owner says he has lost up to £80,000 worth of renovations in Storm Babet – but has vowed to reopen in days.

The Bridgend Bar was among hundreds of properties left under water when the River South Esk burst its banks on Thursday night.

Owner Scott McNeil says he spent between £70,000 and £80,000 renovating the pub in 2020, only to see it destroyed in a matter of hours.

The pub is yards from the river and Scott cannot get insurance cover.

The bar was hit by flooding on Thursday and Friday. Image: Chris Ferguson/DC Thomson
Scott assesses the damage to the pub. Image: Chris Ferguson/DC Thomson

However, he is confident he will be back in business by Friday.

That is despite it emerging that some residents may never be able to return to their homes in the River Street area.

Customers, friends and players from Brechin Vics have rallied round to strip the pub.

On Sunday, teams of volunteers were removing furniture, glasses and tearing up sodden laminate flooring.

Scott, who runs the business with his wife, Amanda, said: “Once we get the place cleared we have dehumidifiers coming and during the week we have joiners booked then carpet fitters.

Bridgend Bar ‘should be open on Friday’ despite Storm Babet flooding

“We really appreciate the help so many people have given us.

“The bar should be open on Friday. Our main trade is food and the kitchens may take a little longer to get into shape but never say never.

“We have set ourselves a goal and are aiming for that.”

It is the first time the Bridgend Bar has been flooded in the 20 years that Scott has been running it.

Work to clear up the Bridgend Bar. Image: Chris Ferguson/DC Thomson

He lives above the business and remained on site on Thursday night – despite warnings for residents to evacuate – because he wanted to be near the pub to protect it if he could.

Some stock has been salvaged but Scott is still facing a huge bill for repairs.

It is predicted that Storm Babet could be among the most expensive Scottish weather events in history.

Tens of thousands of pounds has been donated to a fundraiser for those affected by the flooding.

Conversation