A nightclub owner’s £1.3 million Perthshire mansion has been badly damaged by fire.
At the height of the incident, nearly 30 firefighters battled to contain the flames that threatened to gut the luxury home in the grounds of Gleneagles Hotel.
As fire investigators sifted through the debris to pinpoint the cause of the fire, owner John Bryden said he was ”gutted” by the loss of his house.
”I’m just thanking God my kids were not in the house,” said Mr Bryden, who is well-known in the Perth licensed trade.
Among his business interests are the Ice Factory and Loft nightclubs, That Bar, Roca Blu and the Tavern.
The fire at Balmoral Court was reported at around 8.40pm on Wednesday and, despite the first crew being on scene within eight minutes, it rapidly spread through the two-storey building.
At one stage flames were leaping 12ft above the roof and an aerial ladder was deployed.
Crews from Auchterarder, Crieff and Perth, along with a command unit from Dundee, eventually got the fire under control at around 11.20pm and a presence remained at the scene into the morning, dealing with flare-ups.
A joint investigation between the police and fire service was launched, but preliminary findings were that there were no suspicious circumstances.
Station manager Ewan Baird explained how the fire was tackled, saying: ”Firefighters arriving on the scene entered the property wearing breathing apparatus and began carrying out initial fire-fighting.
”As they worked, the incident commander immediately saw that the fire had broken through the roof and he was concerned for the safety of the crews and they were withdrawn from the premises.”
Mr Baird said that by around 9pm the flames were moving along the ridge of the house and an aerial unit had to be deployed, pumping water from an elevated position.
The large roof space caused a lot of difficulties for the firefighters.
”The build of the property, with a number of wall cavities and hidden pockets in the structure, meant the firefighters have had to be vigilant for signs of flames throughout the night,” he said.
”We had another flare-up at 7.30am in a wall cavity but that’s expected for properties of this type.”
During the incident, firefighters ensured that water run off did not affect neighbouring properties and efforts were made in consultation with the owner to safety retrieve valuable personal possessions from the house during the firefighting operation.