A department store owner spoke of his sadness yesterday over the death of a man who collapsed on his shop roof.
Turriff’s town centre was on lockdown on Sunday, when dozens of emergency service vehicles raced to Main Street after the man was spotted on top of the Celebrations building in Turriff.
The sighting sparked a rescue operation involving police, fire and ambulance crews which closed off the community’s main shopping district for about three hours.
An air ambulance and specialist height vehicle from Aberdeen was also drafted in to help.
But despite those efforts, police confirmed that a 55-year-old male had died.
Yesterday a police spokeswoman confirmed that his death was not suspicious.
And she added that it was the result of a “medical issue”.
Celebrations owner Robert Stephen has now revealed that the man – who has not been named – was not employed to carry out work on the building at the time of his death.
He added that all of the staff’s sympathy were with his family.
Mr Stephen said: “All I can say is that it’s very sad.
“All of our thoughts are with the man’s family at this time.
“We’re still waiting on confirmation from the police, but he wasn’t working for us.”
Yesterday, nearby shopkeepers said they had only heard rumours about what had happened, but were closed for the weekend.
One, who did not want to be named, said: “It’s a small town and gossip travels fast.
“But no one really knows what happened.”
A worker at Milano’s takeaway, opposite Celebrations, said she saw “lots and lots” of police cars coming to and from the scene.
Local councillor Alistair Forsyth also added his sympathies.
“Certainly, my condolences are with the family at this time,” he said.
“Having lost my own father quite suddenly I know the impact a death can have.”
