THE owners of a prominent building on Dunbar High Street have stressed that the site is safe, despite the roof collapsing.

The roof fell in at the former Abbey Church, which has sat empty for decades, last weekend.

Building standards officers from East Lothian Council have already visited the building, which is owned by Steven and Michelle Vidler.

Mrs Vidler said: “The primary concern, the primary thing we have established, is that there is no risk to public safety.”

The building was constructed in the 1850s and remained in use until 1966 when it was closed. The following year it was sold by the Church of Scotland to a private owner.

Since then, it has remained empty, except for a short period in the 1980s when it was used as offices and a visitor centre for the new nuclear power station being built at Torness.

Mr and Mrs Vidler bought the building four years ago.

Mrs Vidler said: “The church has been empty for a long, long time.

“It was in a very bad state of repair in terms of the roof and the timber work on the inside of the church.

“The interior has been lost entirely to damp and wood rot. It did come as a surprise that it fell down but it was not like the roof was in a good state of repair.”

Already, the clear-up operation is under way on the site.

Previously, attempts were made to transform the building into a town hall, while consideration was also given to an arts centre.

However, neither idea made substantial progress and the building, at the southern end of High Street, has remained empty.

Mrs Vidler said that the community had plenty of ideas for the future of the building but it was important that the right decision was made.

She added: “Myself, my husband and a lot of people in the community would like to see that building standing, would like to see it saved, and that is the clear thing.

“I don’t see any reason, looking at things, why that cannot be the case.”

Pippa Swan, chairwoman of Dunbar Community Council, said it had been the “aspiration for the whole of the community for decades” to see the building brought back into use.

She said: “Two buildings – Lauderdale House and Abbey Church – are like the bookends of High Street and they are very important.”

A spokesman for East Lothian Council said: “Our building standards team has been on site to support the owner, who is taking steps to remove debris.

“We have asked for a copy of a structural engineering report and will then determine whether any further action is required in the interests of safety.”