The absentee owner of Ayr's Station Hotel has yet to get in touch with South Ayrshire Council after the major fire at the landmark building earlier this week.

The B-Listed Ayr landmark building went up in flames on the evening of Monday, September 25.

Emergency services formally handed over the site to the council on Friday.

The council has said that drones will be used to inspect the damage to the building because it is too unsafe for building standards personnel to enter the site - with the first drone inspection, weather permitting, due to take place before the weekend.

A local authority spokesperson said on Friday: "The site has now been formally handed over to the council and our building standards team have secured the area.

"The absentee owner of the building, who lives in Malaysia, has not contacted the council.  We will therefore attempt to make contact with him.

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"Safety works will begin on Monday, October 4. Asbestos monitoring has been carried out and this has come back clear.

"It is not safe to access the building. Drone footage and high level access platforms will be used to undertake structural inspections of the condition of the building. The first drone inspection will take place later today (weather permitting).

"Station Bridge Road remains closed and this will remain the case until we have assessed the stability of the southern gable of the building.

"Our licensing team are liaising with local taxi firms regarding closure of the main taxi rank on Smith Street for public safety reasons.

"We will provide further updates as more information becomes available."