MOST of the Helensburgh residents evacuated last month after a building near the centre of the town was declared unsafe have returned to their homes.

The occupants of the building on the corner of East Clyde Street and Maitland Street were given the go-ahead to return on Saturday afternoon – 24 hours after East Clyde Street was reopened to traffic.

But two of the evacuated residents say they remain unhappy at the way the situation was handled – while a first-floor flat in the building is still incapable of being occupied because of the temporary repairs carried out on the property.

The building was evacuated, and East Clyde Street closed to vehicles, on the evening of Tuesday, March 14, after Argyll and Bute Council officials decided it was in an unsafe condition following the exposure of a corroded steel beam to the elements.

Paul Dunigan, who lives in an adjacent property deemed to be at risk in the event of the unsafe building collapsing, was relocated to temporary accommodation, owned by the Ministry of Defence, with his partner and their young child.

Mr Dunigan said: “It’s great to be back in and settled. The last four weeks have been stressful for us all.

“I thank the Navy for stepping in and helping us out, but I think the council have not handled it right. They hide behind government legislation and also pan off any responsibility – it seems it’s everyone else’s fault bar them.

“I feel like things should be put in place before they decide to evacuate.”

Mr Dunigan said he had had to apply to the council to be registered homeless and seek a “crisis” grant – and found the process “degrading”.

Declan Lally, who lives in the temporarily-repaired building with his family, said: “We’re happy to be back home, of course.

“I just hope when they come to fix the beam that we aren’t made homeless for long after that because we will have to move out again I think to fix the problem.

“I’m still very disappointed at how the authorities handled it. I hope nobody has to go through what happened again. Especially folk like the elderly woman across the road from us who was made homeless, and ended up out of pocket by hundreds to stay in a caravan park, then was offered to stay at an old folks’ home when she still happily lives alone.

“Or others getting put into a room at a guest house with mouldy windows and dampness.

“The council should have taken responsibility for making the people homeless and reached out to the Navy sooner for housing – or have something in place to home people.

“Without friends and family everyone would have been on the streets or seeking a homeless shelter somewhere.

“Nobody called us to say the road was open either. We found out by people texting saying ‘I’ve just driven past your house’.

A spokesman for Argyll and Bute Council said: “A week ahead of schedule, East Clyde Street re-opened to all traffic at 3.30pm on Friday, April 7 2017, after the specialist contractor appointed by the council completed temporary propping work to the building.

“The owners and tenants of the adjacent properties were contacted and allowed back into their properties immediately.

“The occupants of the dangerous building at 39-43 East Clyde Street were able to return on Saturday afternoon. The first floor flat where the temporary propping took place cannot be re-occupied at present.

“One of the two commercial premises remains closed due to extensive propping and the other, re-opened today.

“It is hoped that the owners of the building will now undertake permanent repair work to the building in the near future. The council will continue to monitor the situation.

“The owners of buildings are once again reminded that they are responsible for properly maintaining their property to ensure situations like this do not arise in the future.”

The council’s spokesman said the question of when the first floor flat might be capable of being reoccupied was “now a matter for the building’s owner”.