On September 8, 1991, a countdown commenced on a pair of notorious Niddrie tower blocks that were to be sent crashing to the ground - or at least that was the plan.

But despite the button having been pushed, both Teviotbank House and Tweedsmuir House, which had only been completed 19 years earlier, were still standing.

Embarrassingly, the detonation had failed, and it would take demolition experts nine hours to topple the tower blocks bit-by-bit with a mechanical digger.

The 50lbs of explosives went off without an issue, though left the block standing - with a spokeswoman for the controlled demolition adding: “The buildings are sitting on their four walls, it defies all the laws of gravity and physics.”

The day had got off to a shaky start with delays, while police were forced to

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