Another blaze at hospital

FIREFIGHTERS attended a blaze at the site of the former Strathmartine Hospital.

Crews from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service were called to extinguish flames in one of the derelict buildings on the hospital estate.

Three appliances were at the scene, with firefighters having been alerted to the i ncident at around 3.50pm on Saturday.

Crews used a single pump to extinguish the flames.

The most recent fire at the site happened just a few weeks ago.

It l ater emerged firefighters have spent the equivalent of almost two days dealing with call-outs to the former hospital in the past five years.

The derelict site is regularly entered, vandalised and set alight.

The site — a former NHS Tayside facility for people with learning disabilities — closed in 2003 and has been a cause for concern ever since.

Firefighters have been called out to the site on the outskirts of Dundee 60 times in the past five years.

Residents on Union Street were wakened by an “almighty bang” when the white Mercedes Sprinter van struck the front window of Ladbrokes.

A spokeswoman for Police Scotland confirmed that a man has been arrested following the incident.

The collision, which took place shortly after 5am, left the entrance of the betting shop damaged.

Debris was strewn across the pavement as a result of the collision and parts of the street-facing entrance were torn off and scattered around.

One of the store’s windows was also smashed, although a section of the window remained in place.

A Ladbrokes spokesman said that the shop would be closed until further notice following the smash.

Health and safety guidelines issued to store managers by Ladbrokes’ head office prevent the shop from operating until the window has been repaired and the damaged facade made safe.

That is due to concerns that splintered glass and wood currently protruding from the shopfront could injure customers.

There are also concerns about the safe removal of larger parts of the damaged facade.

The van involved in the accident has been removed from the scene.

Residents of Union Street spoke of being wakened by a “huge noise”.

One said: “I heard an almighty bang outside.

“It woke me up and it gave me a massive fright — I thought that it might have been scaffolders getting to work or something else like that so I didn’t go to look.

“I didn’t see much of what happened but I did hear a huge noise.”

A MAN has been arrested after a van crashed into a city centre betting shop today.