Police have appealed for information after fire broke out in a council-owned derelict farm building in Balloch, Inverness yesterday afternoon.
The fire took hold in the roof space of a building at Chapeltown Farm Cottage in Torris Road shortly after 5pm.
The farm was bought by Highland Council in March to progress their plans for 300 new homes and expansion of Culloden Academy.
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service dispatched three appliances and the water carrier to the scene, where it took a further four hours to extinguish the blaze.
There was no-one inside the property.
Police are treating the fire as suspicious and want to speak to anyone who was in the vicinity from around 6pm on Monday July 6 and may have seen anyone hanging around the area acting suspiciously.
Culloden community council appealed to parents to keep their children away from the site.
“These are the houses at the top of the fields that link Culloden and Balloch.
“The houses are empty but it took multiple fire engines to bring the fire under control.
“The buildings are also now very unsafe, so can parents please remind their children not to go anywhere near the site if they are out playing in the woodlands.”
Local councillor Duncan Macpherson said he was returning from Inverness Airport when he spotted smoke from the fire.
“The location of the house fire is at the top of the land recently given permission for the building of 300 new houses.
“If as the police state it appears to be malicious and deliberate fire-razing, then that’s most concerning and I would urge anyone with information to contact the police befroe there’s any repeat occurrences during the school holidays.”
A Highland Council spokeswoman said: “The farm was purchased by the council in late March this year as part of a strategic land purchase to develop 300 new homes and expand Culloden Academy.
“The council’s building control has advised that the fire-damaged building is in a dangerous condition and will have to be demolished.
“The council arranged for fencing to be erected last night to secure the dangerous structure and the building will be demolished once police have completed their investigation.”
Anyone with information should contact police at Inverness via 101 quoting incident number 2549 of July 7, 2020.
