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Edinburgh Live
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Sally Hind & Lee Dalgetty

Jimmy Savile's Scottish house of horrors stripped bare by 'trophy hunters' as demolition stalled

New images inside Jimmy Savile's Highland house of horrors have revealed the damage left behind by 'trophy hunters'.

The eerie snapshots show inside the Glencoe lair, where he is believed to have abused 30 victims. The images shown in the Daily Record reveal collapsed ceilings, smashed walls and piles of debris.

The property, which was once visited by King Charles, still stands 18-months after local council received plans to raze it to the ground.

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Speaking to members of an online group who visit derelict and abandoned properties, Lauren Watt said: “Finally went to see the Jimmy Savile house.

“Nothing left of it though.”

Other members who have visited the site said the cottage had been “completely wrecked” in recent weeks, with roof tiles torn off and insulation pulled from walls.

One explorer said: “Place is probably cursed, but the current owners must be sick of people trashing it.”

Extensive damage has been caused to the Glencoe property (Daily Record)

Another said: “It’s sad as its not justice for the families or hurting (Jimmy Savile)... would be a nice home for someone regardless.”

Savile, who was one of the BBC’s biggest stars, spent decades grooming, molesting and raping children.

It’s feared the DJ, who died in 2011, had abused up to 1000 children, with some as young as two years old.

Savile first set eyes on the Allt-na-Reigh cottage on a cycling trip in 1944 and lived there from 1998 until his death aged 84. It also featured in the Louis Theroux documentary When Louis Met Jimmy in 2000, when the interviewer spent a week with the star.

Savile left orders that the cottage be handed over to the community after his death. But soon after, Scotland Yard launched a nationwide probe into a flood of allegations about the perverted star, with police searching the cottage for evidence that victims were abused there.

The two-bed home beside the A82, once home to climber and mountain rescue leader Hamish MacInnes, was auctioned for £212,000 then sold on. It was later bought for a reported £335,000 by the family of retail tycoon Harris Aslam but his plans to raze it to the ground remain up in the air despite being lodged in October 2021.

Plans for a new family home at the site have stalled (Daily Record)

Aslam plans to replace the eyesore with a futuristic new-build family home but the proposal has prompted a flood of complaints. Amongst objectors was The National Trust for Scotland who said the contemporary design would “distract and detract from the immersive experience of travelling through a landscape that is renowned and valued across the world”.

It said: “It damages our nation’s reputation for respecting heritage, while bringing no obvious public benefit.”

The Highland Council planning application is still under consideration. The Record first revealed a rare inside snapshot of the home where Savile hosted showbiz guests and royalty in 2021, at a time when the trend for prowling abandoned sites was exploding in popularity.

The past time has prompted debates on the legalities of accessing private property and appeals from emergency services over safety issues.

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