Scottish Parliament building's 'missing' 98lb granite slab is back

Published on Friday 10 June 2011 11:45

WORKMEN were today due to put back the panel which became partially detached from high up on the Scottish Parliament building.

Officials would not say whether they had established why the 98lb granite slab came loose on May 16, forcing the MSPs' bar and restaurant to close while it was taken down.

However, they said "minor adjustments" had been made "to facilitate reinstatement" and insisted there was a low risk of a repeat incident.

A few days after the scare, a closer inspection was ordered of another nine panels on various parts of the Holyrood building, but they were confirmed as being structurally sound.

A Scottish Parliament spokeswoman said: "Our structural engineers continue to assure us there is a low risk of other panels detaching and that this is likely to be an isolated incident.

"We will monitor panels through our routine maintenance programme, in agreement with our structural engineers."

She said the 5000 cost of taking down the panel and reinstating it would be met from existing maintenance budgets.

She played down speculation that the parliament might try to sue contractors over the incident.

She said: "Whilst it is important not to prejudice any options open to us on this matter, pursuing liability is unlikely to prove cost effective."