DUNDONIANS witnessed the reverse of making a mountain out of a molehill yesterday as the last group of Ardler multis was demolished with ease.

It was the end of an era as the last of the tower blocks, home to thousands over four decades, was razed.

The 17-storey building encompassing Barassie-Baberton-Carnoustie courts was reduced to about 30,000 tons of rubble in seconds.

The rain held off briefly as the blow-down took place at 11am, following warning hooters at 15 minutes and three minutes before, with a final one just 30 seconds in advance to scare off birds.

The spectacular blast from almost 40kg of explosives was over in the blink of an eye, as dust billowed out from the 200-foot building.

After 15 minutes, the all-clear was given and the bulldozers moved into the site.

William Sinclair, managing director of Safedem, the Dundee company which has demolished nearly 50 tower blocks all over the UK, was pleased with the way things went. They have now razed all six Ardler multis.

Housing association Sanctuary Scotland has spearheaded the regeneration of Ardler, replacing the multis and low-demand council housing with a range of homes in the new Ardler Village. Its director Gordon Laurie said yesterday was the “final piece of the jigsaw.”

The site of the last multi will be used for the final eight houses for rent and 50 new homes for sale.

“Mixed tenure is an important part of the regeneration, and we hope building will be complete by the summer of 2008,” he added.

Around 190 households, 500 people, were within the exclusion zone and had all been required to leave their homes. The first left around 8am and everyone had left by 10am and Mr Laurie said thanks were due to them for their co-operation.