The demolition of the former Alva Glen Hotel has begun.

Council planners granted permission for the work to take place last week – five months after the demolition warrant was originally lodged.

The work on the dilapidated hotel, once dubbed Clackmannanshire’s biggest eyesore, will come as a relief for Alva residents.

Mike Mulraney, director of Murdoch Smith which owns the site, said, “We’ve had a huge amount of positive feedback from the community that they want it down and they are going to see that actually happening. We got the building warrant one day and instructed demolition preparatory work at 9am the next morning.” The date it was approved (11 August) coincided with the target date set by the Directorate for Planning and Environmental Appeals of the Scottish Government to make a decision on the Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) of the hotel.

As previously reported, Clackmannnanshire Council has pursued the purchase of the site by a CPO since 2012.

Legislation allows organisations to buy land without the owner’s permission if there is a strong case for it in the public interest.

The council continued with the order even after Stenhousemuir construction firm Murdoch Smith, part of the Mulraney Group, bought the site from the original owners in February this year. It announced plans to flatten the site and create 18 one and two-bedroom flats.

A hearing was held in May in Tillicoultry to determine whether the government would grant the order and as the Advertiser went to press no decision had yet been made.