COURT orders have been granted to remove home owners threatening to prevent the demolition of Glasgow's notorious Red Road flats, it has emerged.
Police Scotland officers will temporarily evict the residents who live nearby to allow the 32-storey tower blocks to be blown down. It comes more than a year after they were scheduled to be demolished as part of the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony.
The protesters have claimed the blasts are unsafe, threaten the fabric of their homes and utility services and insist they have not been given detailed assurances, claims denied by the teams behind the plans.
They have also invited campaigners from outside the area to join them in their homes in an attempt to create a "human shield" and prevent the demolition.
But Glasgow City Council has now been granted the orders by the sheriff court, just 24 hours before the remaining six tower blocks will be demolished in a series of controlled explosions. Around seven households are affected by the legal moves.
Although the demolition is being carried out for social housing provider the Glasgow Housing Association (GHA), under law the local authority can only be granted a 'dangerous buildings' order.
Police Scotland officers are now expected to remove the residents and their expected supporters ahead of the blow-down at noon on Sunday.
The move has been compared to the stand-off between Glasgow grandmother Margaret Jaconelli and the city council over her long-drawn out eviction in the run-up to the Commonwealth Games.
On that occasion though sheriff officers rather than police officers removed the residents.
One source said: "It's a massive headache for the GHA. The buildings are ready to be blown down, the explosives are in place and there's the serious risk of a stand-off. GHA has no powers to remove home owners so the council has to do it."
The demolition is scheduled to take place a decade after their end was first revealed in 2005 and a year after five of the remaining six blocks were to be dynamited for “entertainment” during the 2014 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony.
The event, which was supposed to symbolise Glasgow's re-emergence after much of its post-war urban design mistakes and collapse of industry, was pulled after weeks of criticism.
But a group made up of local residents and housing campaigners has claimed that the two previous demolitions on the site led to a series of problems, including damage to homes and damage to water supplies for a month. They want the flats to be pulled down storey by storey.
For its part, GHA has offered hundreds of households £100 to leave their properties for the day. Around 2500 people are affected by the need for an exclusion zone with only a small handful of homeowners digging in.
Sources close to the plans said they believed some were holding out for more money or being manipulated by serial campaigners against the social landlord.
One described it as a "minor distraction of the periphery".
GHA has also rejected the claims of concerns and insisted that safety is of paramount importance.
Tina Suffredini, chair of the local residents’ association, said she had no intention of leaving her home, claiming she believed up to 15 households were prepared to dig in.
She said: "How can they remove us? This is private property. We're homeowners. We're also opening our doors to people who want to come along and support us. they can't stop who we invite into our own homes.
"This might be about money for some people. It's not for me. This is about safety. The police have been round to tell us they don't want to get involved in the politics of this but have asked us to leave and gave us the empitional thing about it impacting on the rest of the community.
"I was invited to look at the health and safety risk assessments but not allowed copies, to make notes or take photos. "So I refused to go. Three months we've asked about addressing our concerns and nothing;s been done."
A GHA spokesman said: "The police will take the appropriate action necessary."
Built in the late 1960s and designed by Glasgow Corporation architect Sam Bunton, the blocks housed more than 5000 people and were an important part of the city’s plan to improve housing after the Second World War.
Over the course of their lifetime the flats became known for crime and anti-social behaviour.
The last GHA tenants left in 2012. The first two blocks were blown up in June 2012 and May 2013.
The last block inhabited was only vacated by an asylum seeker housing provider this February.
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