East Ayrshire Council have revealed that no official owner currently resides at 18 Glaisnock Street, which is delaying the reopening of the partially closed part of the road.

The road originally closed fully due to a collapsed wall all the way back in October.

After a one-way system was put in place a few weeks later, an order to keep the road in a one-way condition was then put in place back in April, meaning the road will not fully reopen any time before September 30, 2022.

Since the closure, design proposals for remedial works to tie in the corner of No. 16 Glaisnock Street with the gable of the former No. 18 have been developed in conjunction with consulting structural engineers and a stonework contractor.

But the mystery owner of the building is causing issues with this.

An in-depth survey started at the beginning of this week (Monday, June 6) to further establish the condition of the building, to work out a cost a timeframe for any repairs.

A Freedom Of Information (FOI) request from the Chronicle to East Ayrshire Council sought to find what issues were causing the delays, and what work is still to be carried out.

The FOI revealed: “It has been established that there is presently no owner of the building to give consent for remedial works to be undertaken.

“The council’s legal services section has been in dialogue with solicitors acting for the bank who hold security over the property however there has been no confirmation from the bank that they wish to call in that security.

“An intrusive survey is to be carried out week commencing June 6 to give a clearer idea as to the condition of No. 18 and in particular the front façade.”