Watch: River City town of Shieldinch demolished as developers move in to Dumbarton Studios

Drone footage captured by The Scotsman shows the tenements and shops on Montego Street flattened, with only the Tall Ship pub still standing.

Actor Stephen Purdon, who played Bob O’Hara in the long-running soap since it began 24 years ago, posted a picture on social media, with the caption, “A home from home for 24 years”.

He told The Scotsman: “I felt like I’d already made my peace with it and kind of moved on, but then seeing the pictures of the set getting demolished has brought it all back again.

It emerged last month that Glasgow-based Turnberry Homes, which has been behind housing developments in the west of Scotland for 35 years, had snapped up the Dumbarton Studios site from owner Westerwood Properties for around £2.1 million.

News of the sale was confirmed earlier this year - however, the identity of the new owner was not previously known.

The BBC announced last year that River City would stop filming this April after 23 years, saying there had been a significant change in audience behaviour away from long-running series and towards shorter runs. As well as River City, the site, which was leased by the BBC, has hosted a range of film and TV productions since 2008, including Shetland, Still Game and Two Doors Down.

The final episodes of the soap are due to be screened in August.