Fruit-picker killed in caravan fire.

INVESTIGATION: Efforts are being made to trace victim’s family

Police and fire chiefs are investigating a fatal blaze at a Tayside fruit farm.

At least one person has died in an early morning fire which destroyed a static caravan home at Mains of Errol.

Emergency services were scrambled to the Carse of Gowrie site, between St Madoes and Errol, in the early hours of yesterday.

Details of the victim have yet to be released, but it is understood to be a young man.

Fire broke out in a caravan park used as accommodation for migrant workers.

Investigators threw a cordon around several mobile homes, while forensic teams in white protective clothing sifted through the wreckage of a burnt out caravan.

Officers also spent yesterday questioning eastern European workers in neighbouring caravans.

A police incident command unit was stationed at the farm and more emergency vehicles attended throughout the day.

Police have yet to confirm details of the incident.

A force spokesman said: “Police Scotland is currently investigating a fatal fire which occurred at Mains of Errol farm near Errol, Perthshire, in the early hours of Sunday July 31.

“A joint investigation with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is being conducted and inquiries are at an early stage.”

Efforts are now being made to trace the victim’s family.

A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokeswoman deferred all inquiries to Police Scotland.

The farm is operated by W Glen and Son, one of the country’s top producers of soft fruit. The company declined to comment.

It is understood the fire broke out after midnight and the alarm was raised by migrant workers in a nearby caravan.

Bosses from the family-run business were at the scene, offering assistance to fire crews, through the night and into the early hours of yesterday.

W Glen and Son employs about 200 seasonal workers each year. The firm, which works across 365 acres of farmland by the River Tay, has rows of caravans for migrant staff who are employed over the summer months to pick strawberries.

One Carse of Gowrie resident said: “My heart goes out to them. The people who work there are good people and this will hit them hard.” jabuchan@thecourier.co.uk

Forensic teams spent hours at the scene of the fire.