More woe for city centre trader after more falling masonry sparks safety fears

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A city centre trader has been left facing further misery after a crumbling building that sparked a road closure suffered a further collapse at the weekend.A ‘safety zone’ has been in place in Port Street over fears surrounding falling masonry from a building there back in December.Now, nine weeks later, a section of the building directly above the Ginger Roots Greengrocers crumbled and came crashing to the pavement below, leaving the owner, Mark Ritchie with yet another headache as he continues to try and trade despite a massive drop-off in footfall to his store due to cordon outside.The problems with the crumbling building were first identified on December 16 last year and by December 20 Stirling Council had implemented a road closure on the southbound carriageway – from Upper Craigs to King’s Park Road – as well as the footway in front of the affected property.The affected building is privately owned, but Stirling Council is required by law to take action and carry out work to protect the public from a dangerous building under the Building (Scotland) Act 2003.Mark says that the latest collapse has heaped on more pressure on the business.

He told the Observer: “It’s more hassle, more headaches and more importantly a massive safety issue.”Mark says that the last nine weeks have piled the pressure on him to keep the business going.

Last month we told how the business had taken a hit by more than £8,000 in just six weeks. Click here for more news and sport from the Stirling area.

Despite the shop remaining open for business, scaffolding surrounding the property and the implemented road closure there has seen footfall plummet – including missing out of vital trade over the usually busy festive period.“These past nine weeks