An auction house which burned to the ground a year ago was torched by thieves to cover their tracks, the owner has revealed.
The criminals made off with tens of thousands of pounds of gold and jewellery after targeting Iain M Smith Auctioneers in March last year.
Despite an extensive police investigation the gang has never been caught.
The revelation comes after Perth and Kinross Council approved planning permission for a replacement building at the Perth Airport site.
Mr Smith, who has been operating from another unit at the airport since the fire, said he hoped to be in the new building by October.
He said: “It will be great to move into a purpose-built unit for the first time – the space we’ll have will allow us to have different types of sales. I’m really looking forward to it.
“The fire was as a result of a burglary and they set fire to the building to cover their tracks. The police were trying to chase the gang but they’ve never got any further forward.
“They got away with gold and jewellery worth £20,000 to £25,000. The insurers have sorted everyone out and the sellers were all paid.”
A spokesman for Police Scotland confirmed that the fire was being treated as suspicious.
He said: “The fire in 2018 was treated as suspicious, but has not been successfully detected.”
Six fire engines and the major incident unit raced to Perth Airport after the fire broke out at 12.20am on May 9 last year, and battled for around five hours to contain the flames.
The auctioneers were preparing for a sale of antiques and collectables on Friday and many valuable items were destroyed.
Hundreds of objects were listed in the brochure for the sale, including china, paintings, clocks, toys and jewellery.
Some of the more unusual items that were for sale included an Action Man and a 1962 Playboy calendar.
Iain M Smith has been operating at Perth Airport for 21 years.
