PASSERS-by had a lucky escape in 2007 when part of a town centre building collapsed.

A massive pile of rubble was left lying on MacDowall Street in Johnstone after the entire gable end of an old building crumbled to the ground.

Police immediately arrived to cordon off the pavement and later closed the road entirely.

The historic building had been home to a café and bakery, both of which had been closed for some time, and flats on the upper floor were no longer lived in.

No-one was injured during the incident but the neighbouring register office had to close for the afternoon as access was blocked while safety experts made the site secure.

One eyewitness said: “At first I thought it had been a gas explosion or something but I don’t think gas was involved.

“The access was blocked to the registry afterwards and all the buses were getting re-routed.”

Another local added: “I didn’t see it actually fall down but it would have happened in a matter of seconds. There had been a huge crack up that gable end wall for years. Thankfully, nobody was in there or walking past at the time.”