Thousands of pounds have been rasied just hours after a fire destroyed a popular village hotel.
Emergency crews have spent the most part of today tackling an ‘extensive fire’ at the Taynuilt Inn on the A85 near Oban.
Three fire engines were sent to the scene in Argyll and Bute at around 5am this morning, and pictures of the massive fire engulfing the hotel have been emerging throughout the day.
Now a fundraiser to help the owners, Lesley and Jordan, has been started on Gofundme and it has already raised more than £2,700 for the family and their dog.
The Gofundme page reads: "After a fire ravaged Lesley and Jordan’s business and home in the early hours of the 21st of September they’ve been left with nothing but the clothes on their backs.
"They and their team worked tirelessly to reopen the Taynuilt Inn and it’s been fantastic asset and hub to the community.
"They've left this morning with nothing and if anyone could donate to help them get clothes food and things for the dog till they get sorted."
Police on social media say the A85 at Taynuilt will now be shut ‘for some time’ due to the fire.
There have been no reports of any casualties in the incident.
Pictures taken from the scene by local Robert McPherson show flames billowing out of the building.
The roof of the hotel appears to have caved in.
The Oban Police Twitter said: “Due to an extensive fire the A85 at Taynuilt will be shut for some time. Please find an alternative route.”
Traffic Scotland have also been posting updates throughout the morning, keeping drivers up-to-date with alternative routes.
UPDATE ❗️⌚️07:45#A85 CLOSED⛔️
— Traffic Scotland (@trafficscotland) September 21, 2021
The A85 is CLOSED both ways at Taynuilt Hotel due to a building fire and will remain closed for some time.
Find diversion route below⬇️
Please leave extra time for your journey.@NWTrunkRoads @argyllandbute @CalMac_Updates @ObanPol pic.twitter.com/EDWkobJA7J
A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson added: “We were alerted at 5.05am on Tuesday, September 21 to reports of a building on fire on the A85 near Taynuilt.
“Operations Control mobilised three appliances and one height vehicle to the area and firefighters are working to extinguish the fire.
“There are no reported casualties at this time and crews are currently still in attendance.”
The fire and subsequent road closures have caused problems for local services in the area.
It is understood that the local school and early learning centre have been closed due to a lack of water - with supplies being pumped to tackle the blaze.
Taynuilt Medical Practice also confirmed they would shut the Dalmally Surgery today - they posted on social media apologising for the inconvenience. They plan to reopen tomorrow.
Bus firm West Coast Motors posted online: "The A85 is currently closed at Taynuilt due to a building fire, services directly affected are, 403 Dalmally, 415 Dalavich and 976 Glasgow, however we have several staff members who live past the closure and are unable to get in to Oban so other services may also be affected.
"Please bear with us we will do our best to keep as much moving as we can. Thank you."
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