Station work fuels disruption fear

Residents in an Abbeyhill street have been told to expect weeks of noise and disruption as work gets under way to wind down a city petrol station.

The Shell station at Montrose Terrace was shut down suddenly in April after reports of leaks in pipes beneath the forecourt.

People living in the area have now been told to expect 12 weeks of work as the decommissioning of the site gets under way.

The oil giant has sent letters to homeowners and business warning them to expect “forecourt activities including drilling and breaking out concrete”.

One resident, who did not want to be named, said: “I think people are going to be up in arms that there’s going to be drilling starting from 8.30am right up until the evening.

“The work is going to make a huge racket in a really densely populated area.

“It’s going to cause lots of disruption and people are not going to be happy about it.

“There’s a lot of old people who live nearby and it will be awful for them.

“People thought the petrol station had closed because it wasn’t making any money – they were stunned when they found out it was because there was a petrol leak.”

The work will break for Christmas on December 16 and then resume after the New Year.