HOMEBUYERS were so desperate to get their hands on an apartment at the former Pilmuir Works site in Dunfermline that they camped on the street for the night.

One couple braved the cold for 19 hours last Friday evening so they could clinch the £275,000 top-floor flat with a mezzanine ceiling in the Damask Building (which faces the Carnegie Leisure Centre).

Another couple camped out from 5pm but were pipped to the post by the pair that had arrived in the queue at 3.30pm.

The second phase of the Linen Quarter apartments was launched at 11am last Saturday with a further seven apartments released.

Other potential buyers also came to join the queue at the development in the town centre but realised the coveted penthouse would be snapped up before they would have a chance.

Seller Caroline Reilly said: "It's certainly unheard of in Dunfermline!

"We've had a lot of interest in the part of the site which will face Tesco but as the Damask building is most historical, people are even more interested.

"Two couples camped out which was just ridiculous because the weather was so horrific!

"They made it through the duration of the night and I think they got some odd looks from people who were out!

"The couple at the front did get the super-duper apartment but the others did reserve another one."

Sales staff tried to supply the campers with hot drinks and Carnegie Leisure staff also brought out some chairs for the buyers.

"It was freezing!" Caroline added.

"I took them some rolls from Stephens in the morning and all the staff in the shop couldn't believe what they were doing!

"We've had a lot of interest from people in Dunfermline but also a lot of people who are moving over here from Edinburgh."

The land on Pilmuir Street was last used as a factory by Dunlop and then Duracord but it closed in 2005 and the site fell into disrepair.

Byzantian Developments Ltd secured planning permission for the development in Pilmuir Street last year which will include a new seven-storey red brick block, rooftop gardens, the preservation of Dunfermline’s last industrial chimney and a separate private car park on Campbell Street.

The main block in the centre of the site will have 66 flats and rooftop gardens, while a further 37 homes are proposed in a new five-storey, light-beige brick block at the Winterthur Lane end of the site, with 54 flats planned for Pilmuir Street.

The first phase is expected to be completed by the end of the year.