A number of roads have been cordoned off by police in Thurso after a large section of masonry fell off a building.
The incident, which involved the old Old Clydesdale Bank building on Traill Street, left debris strewn across the pavement and road.
Photos from the scene show a large section of the building facade missing along its roofline.
Thankfully, there are no reports of any injuries.
REPORT: 'It's great to be home': Donald Trump arrives back in Scotland
Police said officers were called to the scene at around 3.35am on Monday to reports of damage to a building.
Since then, the A9 at Thurso has been closed to traffic, with drivers being asked to avoid the area and seek alternative routes.
The road closure is expected to be in place for some time.
The public is asked to avoid Traill Street in Thurso until further notice due to falling masonry. The road is closed and a diversion is in place - check @Trafficscotland for details. The property owner is taking steps to make the area safe asap. Further updates will follow.
— The Highland Council (@HighlandCouncil) May 1, 2023
🔴 Save on a full year of digital access with our lowest EVER offer.
Subscribe for a whole year to The Herald for only £24 for unlimited website access or £30 for our digital pack.
This is only available for a limited time so don't miss out.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "Around 3.35am on Monday, 1 May, we were called to reports of damage to a building in Traill Street, Thurso.
"The road is currently closed whilst arrangements are made to remove the debris.
“Drivers are asked to avoid the area and use the diversions in place.”
Highland Council also said the property owner is taking steps to make the area safe.
Maree Todd, SNP MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, tweeted: "Frightening! Very glad that nobody was injured."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel