Pavilion hit by vandals

VANDALS are being blamed for torching a pavilion in Princes Street Gardens which forced traffic lights on Princes Street to be cut off. Police are treating the blaze as suspicious and have launched an investigation into the cause.

Firefighters were called to the scene at the children’s playpark in the west end of the gardens at 9.52pm on Friday.

They extinguished the flames but had to alert Scottish Power engineers after a junction box located underneath the pavilion was damaged.

Traffic lights on Princes Street had to be switched off for a number of hours on Saturday while the engineers carried out repairs. Police were forced to direct traffic while the lights were out of action.

A council spokeswoman said the "gazebo" was being used as a storage area by the council for maintenance supplies such as paint.

A fire brigade spokeswoman said that two appliances from Tollcross were called to the gardens after reports that the structure was alight.

She added: "One appliance attended originally but they requested another one as support. They also asked for Scottish Power engineers which indicates there was a problem with the electricity supply."