ONE of the most striking landmarks on Edinburgh's skyline is set to be demolished - despite protests from the nation's main heritage watchdog. A disused gas holder, a fixture on the capital's waterfront for more than a century, faces being torn down just 12 years after being given protected status.

Council officials are recommending demolition of the structure, part of the former Granton gasworks, gets the go-ahead. But Historic Scotland wants it to be restored and kept in place as "an important reminder of the 19th century gas industry".

A BID to knock down one of the most familiar landmarks on Edinburgh's skyline has been rejected. Councillors voted to reprieve the B-listed former gas holder on the Granton foreshore and criticised National Grid, which owns the structure, for allowing it to fall into disrepair. It will now be urged to bring forward proposals to carry out millions of pounds worth of work to the gas holder, which was given protected status in 1998, and find an alternative use for it.

National Grid, which owns 110 acres of land in Granton, insisted the gas holder had "no possible alternative uses" and claimed the council's decision had rendered its plans for a new urban village in the area "undeliverable". But councillors claimed the company had simply left the gas holder - which dates from 1898 and is the last remaining sign of Granton's once-booming gas industry - "to rot" over the past 12 years. They were also sceptical about its claims that the structure - last in use in 1987 - had become a health and safety risk and that keeping it would hamper future development of the Forthquarter area.

INDUSTRIAL giant National Grid is considering legal action to force Edinburgh council to buy a state-protected gas holder that it wants to demolish to save around £5 million. The iconic Granton gas holder on the banks of the Firth of Forth was unusually granted listed building status by Historic Scotland in 1998 and has survived a series of planning battles over its future which culminated in a public inquiry last month.

But although the inquiry ruled that the historic Victorian landmark should stay in place, owner National Grid says it is now consulting lawyers over whether it can force Edinburgh Council into purchasing the 120-year-old structure with taxpayers’ funds. The utility firm is examining whether it can use Land Compensation legislation to argue that as the state wants to save the gas holder, it should be liable to pay the £5m bill for stabilisation and maintenance.