Absent landlords have come under fire in the wake of the former Treasure Cave building being left to crumble.
A demolition team are working on bringing down the English Street structure in Dumfries town centre after it became unsafe.
It was left unattended for eight years and is now in a dangerous condition forcing nearby businesses to shut up shop while Westlakes Demolition workers bring the building down.
However, the disruption to English Street and Shakespeare Street, plus the knock-on effect with road closures and diversions, has caused chaos in the town and prompted calls from MSP Colin Smyth for councils to be given more powers to control landlords.
He said it was time to “clamp down” on them and that authorities should be given more power to act.
Mr Smyth added: “There are examples of such dangerous buildings in just about every town in our region. Clearly, absent owners have no interest in the streets or towns their buildings are located so they don’t bother to maintain them to an appropriate level.
“Councils are understandably reluctant to take action except in emergencies because under the current inadequate Scottish Government laws, councils have to pick up the bill and are then forced to go through the courts to try to recoup the costs from the landlord.
“The Scottish Government need to get a grip, give councils the proper powers and funding that allow them to seize the assets of absent owners to pay for the upkeep of buildings.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Local councils already have broad compulsory purchase powers which can be used for a range of purposes, including restoration of property which may be vacant, derelict or unsafe and bringing it back into productive use.
“The Scottish Government is committed to modernising the compulsory purchase order (CPO) process to make it clearer, fairer and faster for all parties, and to support the delivery of projects that are in the public interest.
“To incentivise the reoccupation of empty non-domestic properties, 100 per cent Fresh Start relief is available for up to 12 months on properties with a rateable value up to £95,000 that are occupied after six months or more of being unoccupied.
