Direct action has been taken to protect the public from the danger posed by a derelict Perth building.
The council had warned the owners of St Paul’s Church they would take matters into their own hands if action was not taken to protect passers-by.
They erected security fencing to keep people at a safe distance from the crumbling building.
“We have stepped in and will be recharging the owner,” said a council spokesperson.
The building owners have been under pressure to erect scaffolding after a near miss when a slate fell from its roof.
James Boyd, legal and compliance manager with Belfast-based Simple Marketing Global, told The Courier he has contacted four companies to solve the problem at St Paul’s Church.
Perth and Kinross Council warned Mr Boyd to take immediate action after a dispute with a firm led to scaffolding being removed and the local authority placing temporary pedestrian barriers along the front of the ageing building.
An email sent to Mr Boyd by Gordon Lindsay, Perth and Kinross Council’s building standards manager, underlined the seriousness of the issue.
Mr Lindsay said: “I am quite sure you will appreciate the serious concerns being expressed by many in Perth about the safety of this building now the scaffold has been removed.
“As I previously advised, there has already been one incident the fortunate situation being that no one was hurt as a result.”
The local authority confirmed a slate fell from St Paul’s roof and revealed they had held discussions with Mr Boyd in a bid to have some form of protection placed around the listed structure, which is also infested with pigeons.
“The council continues to have robust dialogue with the owner of St Paul’s Church regarding the provision of scaffolding,” said a council spokesperson yesterday.
Mr Boyd said he had contacted four firms with a view to erecting scaffolding and is doing all he can.
He said: “I have a price from an Edinburgh company who can’t start for 14 days and a price from a Belfast company. I’m also waiting for a price from another Northern Irish company and one further in the north of England.
“No one is more concerned to secure the building than myself.”
It is the latest wrangle to hit St Paul’s Church, which has been empty since it closed in 1986. Mr Boyd took over its ownership this year from Edinburgh curry chain Khushi’s and promised to erect fresh scaffolding, make it watertight and rid it of nesting pigeons.
The entrepreneur had told The Courier he plans to convert the former church into a caf/heritage information centre.