THE final two residents of high flats in Clydebank East have moved out allowing a year-long demolition process to begin.

Newshot, Edmonstone and Howcraigs courts and four maisonette blocks have been earmarked for regeneration since 2015.

By that point, half of the 330 flats in the multi-storey blocks were already empty thanks to maintenance and repair issues.

West Dunbartonshire Council considered a partial demolition and rebuild and 46 per cent of residents told a survey they wanted to stay.

But the decision was taken to bring down the structures. New homes won’t fill the site until 2020 at the earliest.

It has been a slow process finding new homes for residents but council bosses confirmed last week the last two tenants have moved out.

New fencing and security measures are being erected around the site and a timetable for demolition will be set.

There have been problems with break-ins to empty flats as the site gradually emptied and the council said they extended security team hours to protect it.

A spokeswoman for the council told the Post: “The site of the high flats at Clydebank East is ready to be handed over to contractors, following the departure of the remaining two residents last week.

“Work to demolish and build new homes is expected to begin shortly after.

“West Dunbartonshire Council has had a security team in place at the site since May and hours were recently extended to prevent unauthorised entry.”

A caretaker for the site has been moved to elsewhere.

Joe Henry, a Clydebank East community councillor, said the area had been allowed to get run down and there were mixed feelings about buildings going.

And he said planned new homes would be directly under the airport flightpath, a route that has seen a massive increase in the number of flights since the high flats were built in 1966.

He said: “There’s a housing shortage in West Dunbartonshire - I don’t know if this is the answer.

“They’ve been allowed to become an eyesore. In my mind, it’s really bad management from the council.

“A lot of people say it’s great they’re getting pulled down but looking at places in Europe, and they don’t seem to have the same problems with high flats.”

Gil Paterson MSP said: “There is no doubt that there have been close communities throughout the age of the Clydebank East high flats.

“But time moves on and the standard of properties built by both the council and the housing associations are of a very high merit so I believe the regeneration will be a good thing for the town and for that area in particular.”