Residents near Glasgow's Trinity Tower to return home

People living near a landmark tower in Glasgow are to start returning home months after being evacuated over safety fears.

In January, an exclusion zone was set up around the Trinity building in the Park Circus area of the west end.

It followed a warning from the council that "structural deterioration" of the tower had worsened during high winds.

Residents living in the surrounding area will be able to return home on a phased basis from Wednesday 13 April.

• Residents fear evacuation could last months

The council said affected residents living near the Trinity building will be able to return to their properties from this date.

However, those who live in the Trinity building itself will not be able to return until it is judged that there is no longer a danger to anyone occupying it.

Contractors who had begun repair work on the tower contacted the council after high winds on 29 January worsened the condition of the building.

It was decided that the tower and the surrounding area had to be evacuated for the safety of the public.

The landmark tower is a well-known feature of the Glasgow skyline

Trinity Tower is part of building which for more than a century was a theological college for church ministers.

Free Church College was built in the 1850s and renamed Trinity College in 1930.

The site, at Woodland Hill, is said to have been eyed up as a possible site for the new Glasgow University building, but the church secured it first.

Architect Charles Wilson won a competition to design the building with his vision of an Italian-inspired campanile. One of the rules was that the winner be a member of the Free Kirk.

The church vacated the building in 1976 and 10 years later it reopened as apartments.