By Dave Lord

A MAN died after his car careered off a Perthshire dual carriageway and collided with a lamp-post.

The man was the only occupant of the car travelling northbound on the A9 close to Gleneagles at about 10.15am.

Paramedics rushed to the scene and initial reports suggested the man was trapped in his silver Skoda Octavia car.

Firefighters with specialist cutting equipment were quickly summoned but he was declared dead at the scene.

A brigade spokeswoman confirmed that fire and rescue representatives were eventually given the task of cutting the body from the wreckage of the vehicle.

“We were called out to the northbound carriageway by the police at 10.15am,” she said.

“On arrival we were informed that there was one confirmed fatality and we were required to extricate the casualty.”

The spokeswoman added that two appliances, one from Auchterarder and one from Crieff, had been dispatched to the scene.

The accident caused significant disruption to motorists in the area and a police spokesman said diversions were put in place.

A section of northbound carriageway was closed for a time, close to Gleneagles station, with traffic being diverted through Auchterarder.

The spokesman added that crash investigators were quickly on the scene, carrying out an examination in a bid to discover the “full set of circumstances” surrounding the collision.

Police have not yet confirmed the identity of the deceased and said no further details were available.

However, The Courier understands the victim may not be from the local area. Anyone who witnessed the accident is urged to call police on 0845 6005705.