Demolition begins on surviving Red Road flats

Two tower blocks which controversially remained standing following a “botched” demolition are finally being taken down.

The remaining Red Road flats are demolished. Picture: John Devlin

Six of the infamous Red Road flats in Glasgow were supposed to have been brought down last Sunday in a controlled demolition.

But two of the Glasgow tower blocks remained standing at an angle which led to anger from locals and widespread mocking.

The demolition was supposed to leave both towers with 10 remaining storeys but both were left with slightly more at 13 storeys on Red Road Court and 11 storeys at Petershill Drive.

Workers using high-reach machinery yesterday (Wed) started taking down the final two blocks starting with 123 Petershill Drive.

The work involves weakening the steel frame enough to enable the block to be brought down to ground level under controlled conditions.

A safe exclusion zone within the site has been set up so that parts of the structure can be dismantled safely, including a buffer zone for spread debris.

A Glasgow Housing Association (GHA) spokesman said: “Although two of the blocks did not fall exactly as predicted on Sunday, all blocks are now at a height that the demolition can be completed as planned.

“The contractor has now begun work on dismantling the remaining floors of the blocks.

“This work will be carried out under strict health and safety conditions and with minimum disruption to residents.”

Over 1,000 people were evacuated from their homes on Sunday for the whole day while work on the blast took place.

The crooked remains of the two towers became an unlikely tourist attraction at the beginning of the week as many visited the area to take photos as if it was the leaning tower of Pisa.