Perth fatal fire junction to reopen on Monday

A Perth city centre junction closed since a fatal fire last June will reopen on Monday.

A man died and two people, an eight-year-old girl and a 27-year-old man, were taken to hospital following the blaze in Scott Street.

Fifty-five households had to be rehoused after damage to the building made neighbouring structures unsafe.

The junction of Scott Street and South Street will initially open as a single lane outside That Bar Lounge to allow footway works to be completed.

A chihuahua puppy called Vilo was also rescued from the building after surviving almost two weeks in the burnt-out tenement.

Demolition work, which had to be carried out brick-by-brick, was completed in December.

Perth and Kinross Council said it had been unable to complete footway works outside Price Crushers due to scaffolding and this work will be carried out once the scaffolding is removed.

Perth and Kinross Council leader Eric Drysdale said the demolition and associated works had been "an extremely long and complicated process."

He said: "Our staff and contractors have worked extremely hard to re-open the road, particularly as they have also had to contend with extremely poor weather over recent weeks and I would like to thank them for all their efforts."