Two Fife women have told of their shock at being mistaken for forensics police – when they were actually just cleaning a former hotel.
Concerned residents contacted The Courier after spotting people wearing white suits outside the former Greenside Hotel in Leslie on Sunday morning.
Others took to social media to report the forensics police presence, sparking concerns that a major crime had taken place.
But the white-suited figures turned out to be Sofia Anderson and Gillian McIlravie carrying out a cleaning job in the 15-bedroom building.
Sofia, 16, and Gillian, 34, were oblivious that concerns had been raised until The Courier turned up to investigate.
The pair, from Glenrothes, saw the funny side.
Gillian, who also works as a security guard, said: “We came and had a look around on Saturday night to see what we were needing to do.
“There had been people living here in April but it’s now empty.
“We were helping someone out to clean the property as a favour.
“We were totally unaware of being pictured but were purely wearing the suits for cleaning.
“I could see why people might have thought we were forensics officers.”
Sofia, who works as a housekeeper, said they were only working there for the day.
She said: “We have watched a wee bit of CSI but we’ve just been doing a bit of vacuuming and cleaning.
“To be fair, when we came in here in the dark on Saturday, it was quite scary.
“It’s hilarious reading some of the comments from people about what they thought might have been going on.”
Neighbours aware of crime speculation at Greenside Hotel
One neighbour who lives near the hotel had also become aware of the speculation online.
She said: “I read it on two local Facebook groups and saw the picture of people in hazmat suits.
“At no point did I see any police cars and I did start to think, are folk just cleaning the place?”
In 2021, the former Greenside Hotel had an application approved to be transformed into a homeless hostel.
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