Police probe deliberate fire at Glasgow tenement amid asylum seeker rumours

Police are investigating a deliberate fire at a housing association tenement in Glasgow that had previously been targeted by anti-immigration protesters.

The building in Stonyhurst Street, Possilpark - which has been derelict for 20 years - had received £3m to be renovated as affordable homes.

Glasgow MSP Paul Sweeney claimed there was evidence the blaze was started deliberately on Sunday following online "disinformation" that the flats would be used for asylum seekers.

Housing association NG Homes, which owns the block, said these were false rumours and the flats would provide "much-needed" homes for people on its waiting list.

Police Scotland said the fire broke out in a fourth floor flat at about 16:50 on Sunday.

Det Insp Neil Martin urged anyone who saw anything suspicious to get in touch .

"Fortunately no-one was injured but this kind of reckless activity is not acceptable and caused serious disruption in the area," he added.

NG Homes said the damage was still being assessed and it was too early to confirm the impact on the renovation timescales.

Prior to the fire two protests had been held, one in July and another in early August, after it was claimed online that the flats, once refurbished, would be used to house migrants.

Since the blaze, images of the building with flames shooting from the roof have been circulated by right wing social media accounts describing the tenement building as "migrant apartments".

In a post on social media, Sweeney said it was "outrageous" that a refurbished building risked being destroyed by fire in a "socially-deprived community".

He said: "We secured nearly £3m in government investment to bring these tenements back and renovate them, so they can be used for the community in a city with a housing emergency.

"It was never going to illegal immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers - it was never intended for that purpose at all.

"So, anyone claiming that was spreading lies, misinformation, to generate clicks on social media, to whip up the community, wind people up and this is the upshot of it."

Sweeney later told BBC Scotland Radio's Lunchtime Live programme: "Obviously the police and the fire service have to conduct official investigations but, from conversations I had on the street, there were witnesses who said they had seen someone scaling the scaffolding and then a fire materialised on the roof soon afterwards."

Sweeney believes the scaffolding had only been up a few days so the building work had not yet started.

He said the protests in July had been "whipped up by local Facebook groups, speculating about the building being used for asylum seeker accommodation."

This had "provoked a significant picket and protest at the site", he added.

He called for clear communication so that "these conspiracy theorists and malicious actors, particularly from the far right who have got a political agenda to whip this stuff up, are countered effectively".

First Minister John Swinney told BBC Scotland News he had "seen the rumours" circulating about the potential use of the flats for migrant accommodation.

He said anyone involved in setting the building on fire would be apprehended.

"It is completely and utterly unacceptable for any accommodation in any part of Scotland housing anybody to be targeted," he added.

Glasgow City Council said that, working with NG Homes, more than 3,500 empty homes had been brought back to "productive use" in recent years.

It said grant funding for refurbishment came through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme.

Ruairi Kelly, the council's convener for housing and development, said the new housing was intended to be used by people in the community.

"There's the potential individuals have taken it upon themselves to then remove that opportunity from families within the Possil area," he told BBC Scotland News.

He said it was "really difficult" to counteract misinformation, like the suggestion the building would be used to house asylum seekers, because "a lot of people are in a position where they want to believe the worst".

When asked how the council could improve how it addresses such rumours, Kelly said the true plans for the building had reached the people who were spreading misinformation, but they "don't want to hear it".

"It doesn't suit their narrative," he added.

"What suits their agenda is to continue to whip up anger, fear and hatred within communities and set people against each other."

Kelly warned that people could have died in the fire.

"Once a fire has been set, the person who set that has no control over what happens next," he said.

"Thankfully the fire service were in place to put the fire out, but we've seen other fires in the city take hold and be absolutely devastating."

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) said six fire engines and specialist resources had been sent to the blaze on Sunday.

The last appliance left the scene shortly before 14:00 on Monday.

NG Homes was in the process of refurbishing and upgrading a number of buildings on the street.

A spokesperson said: "We are aware that disinformation has circulated regarding the future use of the homes and would once again stress that these claims are false.

"The buildings are being refurbished to provide much-needed affordable homes.

"These properties will be allocated in line with our allocations policy and Scottish housing legislation from our existing housing list.

"As a registered social landlord, we do not allocate housing to people who are not legally eligible for it."

Firefighters tackle blaze in fourth floor tenement flat in Glasgow