SCOTRAIL has issued a travel update to Ayrshire commuters after services were hit by major disruption following a fire at the abandoned Station Hotel building in Ayr on Sunday.

Fire crews were called to a report of a blaze in the derelict property shortly after 3.30pm on Sunday, May 28, with onlookers able to see smoke coming from the south end of the structure.

Passengers and staff were evacuated from the railway station as a safety measure.

Trains between Ayr and Glasgow, and also on the lines linking the city with Largs and Ardrossan, were severely disrupted after the electricity supply to the railway's overhead power lines had to be cut to allow firefighters safe access to the site.

Onlookers saw firefighters making their way into the building after seven appliances were sent to the scene, with crews making their way into the building via a rear entrance.

Electrical power was restored to the overhead wires on the Largs and Ardrossan routes at around 7.30pm, and the line between Ayr and Kilwinning reopened some 30 minutes later.

ScotRail reported that trains were running normally to and from Ayr shortly after 9pm.

According to the ScotRail page on journeycheck.com, there was no disruption to trains on any Ayrshire routes at the start of service on Monday.

In December, South Ayrshire councillors voted in favour of demolishing the southern section of the hotel building - where the fire appears to have broken out on Sunday - but they gave the building's absentee owner 18 months to carry out repair work before stepping in to raze it to the ground.

In February the council published a timeline of events that had taken place over the previous six months in relation to the hotel and the authority's responsibility for it.

That timeline revealed that a developer had come forward to enquire about the possibility of saving the building - but that they had walked away after two days.