An abandoned sorting office in a Moray town has become the breeding ground for the next generation of performing talent in the region.
Fears were raised the former Royal Mail building in Lossiemouth would become an eye sore when the firm moved out nearly two years ago.
The building was the site of thousands of letters being allocated to postmen every day before being delivered to homes in the area.
However, now the former sorting hall reverberates to the beating of drums and sound of song from students at the Lossiemouth Entertainment Academy.
The organisation has overhauled the building to kit it out with musical instruments to let ambitious performers let their talents blossom.
Abbie and Andy Thomas have moved to the region from London as part of the expansion to become instructors to take advantage of the extra space.
Mrs Thomas said: “It’s perfect for what we want to do. People can come in, make as much noise as they want and it’s not going to matter.
“It’s also big enough for people to play as a whole band at the same time. In this area it’s hard to find places with the right space and equipment.
“It’s amazing to be able to offer people the chance to experience that from a young age.”
Mrs Thomas is a former pupil at Buckie High School but moved to London to pursue a career in the music industry after graduating from the University of the West of Scotland.
Yesterday, Tish Tindall, a director at Lossiemouth Entertainment Academy, explained that the extra studio space would allow them to expand the number of full-time students they could have by a third, bringing it to a total of 60.
She added: “It’s taken a lot of work to get it ready. Everything had to be stripped back to get rid of the salmon pink colour.
“There was some big machinery that was part of the sorting office too that had to be removed.
“We couldn’t afford to buy it so thought nothing was going to happen with it. When the opportunity came up to lease it we jumped at it.”
