PUBLIC safety from dangerous buildings will be boosted by plans to make it easier for local authorities to reclaim costs if they are forced to step in, it has been claimed.

For more than a decade councils have had to go through expensive debt recovery to reclaim cash from owners who won't pay up or can't be tracked down.

But now the loophole that caused this is set to be closed, meaning councils are more likely to move on properties when they are at the "grey" stage between defective and dangerous, before they threaten public safety.

Dangerous buildings -from houses to commercial premises and even historic buildings - must be made safe by local authorities, but they have lacked the ability to seek easy financial redress, forcing them down the road of expensive and uncertain civil court action.

Highland Council conv-ener Jimmy Gray raised the issue with Labour MSP David Stewart and now these efforts are taking shape with MSPs backing his Defective and Dangerous Buildings (Recovery of Expenses) Bill.

Mr Stewart cites a number of cases where councils have been left exposed.

In Fife the council spent £300,000 to demolish a precarious building in a tight town centre site, which was at risk of collapse into the street, and struggled to recover its outlay.

A simple charge on a property would mean this bill must be paid at the point of any sale. The proposals would also give home owners decent time to make regular payments to pay the cost.

Mr Stewart said: "The widow in Bearsden is better off because the payments are spread and the cost might be taken out of the later sale of the property. The councils are better off because they have a cheaper way of getting their money back. And local building companies get a boost in terms of repair work. It's a win-win-win whichever way you look at it."

A spokesman for the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities said: "Leaders welcome the approach taken so far by David Stewart MSP and the Scottish Government."