BLAZE HORROR FLAT INFESTED WITH RATS

Dodgy landlord's death trap tenement so neglected renovation may be years away

- BY MARK McGIVERN

RESIDENTS in a leafy neighbourhood are calling for action over a rat-infested eyesore building that serves as a ghastly reminder of a horror fire 27 years ago.

The deaths of students James Fraser and Daniel Heron in the townhouse tenement block in Glasgow's West End in 1999 shocked Scotland and cast a grim light on notorious landlord Harpal "Harry" Singh.

The millionaire property owner was later jailed over lies he told in relation to the deaths of the young men, who could not escape the blaze due to bars over their windows.

And Singh was banned from being a landlord for further shameful conduct in 2018.

The tragedy rocked the lives of neighbours in Woodlands, some of whom say the grim and dangerous state of disrepair of the building serves as a daily reminder of the traumatic event decades earlier.

On the Glasgow West End Facebook site, hundreds of people expressed their dismay at the mess the tenement is in, with graffiti on the front and trees growing out of one wall.

The building has been so neglected that it is now unsafe for surveyors to properly inspect it, meaning a proper renovation may not happen for years.

Flats at the property had been let out again in the years following the fire.

But Glasgow City Council made a compulsory purchase in 2020 - two years after Singh was caught letting out properties without a licence.