A McDonald’s restaurant in Monifieth has been destroyed after a huge overnight fire.
Emergency services descended on Ethiebeaton Park at around 1.15am on Tuesday after massive flames were seen shooting from the building.
A handful of staff working in the 24-hour restaurant escaped unharmed.
The cause of the fire is not known and images show the building has been left a burnt-out shell.
The A92 was closed at the height of the blaze but has since reopened.
Monifieth McDonald’s franchisee reacts as restaurant destroyed by fire
Speaking to The Courier at the scene, Nick McPartland, the franchisee who runs the Monifieth McDonald’s, said: “We are a 24-hour restaurant so we did have staff inside when the fire started.
“We don’t know what caused the fire but everyone was able to leave the restaurant safely and there was no smoke inhalation.
“We’re just going to have to wait to see what we can do with the branch but I’m thankful that the staff are safe.”
One Monifieth resident who was walking her dog near the restaurant said: “My husband told me that they had shut the Arbroath Road earlier in the morning so we had no way of knowing how we would get along this way.
“It’s really sad, this. You go to some of the other branches where it can be quite chaotic but this is a nice branch that’s very clean and seems to be well-run.
“I feel for the staff, especially given the time of year.
“It looks like they’re going to have to demolish the building.”
Another resident who lives across the A92 from the restaurant said: “We noticed the smoke around 12.35am.
“It was quite scary because we have a lot of grass beside us and we didn’t know if that would start to go up.
“It was a very strong smell of smoke and as it came towards the house we couldn’t even see the drive.
“It’s sad because it was a nice place to visit.”
‘No casualties reported’ after McDonald’s blaze
The road into McDonald’s at Ethiebeaton Park was shut earlier but has since reopened.
Stagecoach confirmed that buses are now running in the area.
Fire crews from four stations in the area helped tackle the blaze.
A spokesperson for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said: “We were alerted at 1.13am on Tuesday to a fire at a commercial property at Ethiebeaton Park, Monifieth.
“Operations control mobilised four fire appliances and a high-reach appliance to the scene.
“No casualties have been reported.”
Police Scotland confirmed its only involvement was to assist with traffic management.
A spokesperson for McDonald’s said: “Following a serious fire onsite, our Monifieth – Arbroath Road restaurant is currently closed.
“All employees on shift at the time were safely evacuated and the fire and emergency services are still in attendance at the scene.”
Local councillor Lloyd Melville thanked the fire service for working to put the blaze out.
In a post on Facebook, he said: “I very much hope nobody has been hurt by this fire.
“Thank you to the fire service for working to put this out.”
It is the second incident on that stretch of the A92 in as many days after the road was shut east of Ethiebeaton on Monday morning due to concern for a person.
9 months later, work has began to rebuild the fast food establishment.
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