May Glass (79), of Hawthorn Street, told the Mail that she originally noticed a "small crack" going along the ceiling in her flat which she intended to have repaired within a few days.

However, after noticing the crack was beginning to become wider, the former Glasgow resident, who has been staying at the property for around five years, was fortunate not to be injured when all of a sudden her ceiling caved in.

Mrs Glass said: "I saw the small crack so I looked out my policy before getting somebody to come out and have a look at it.

"The next morning the crack had got to two inches wide.

"I knew that the landlord of the person who stays above me was there at the time so I went up to speak with him to see if there was any damage up there.

"When I got back down the stairs and into my flat the whole ceiling just fell right down – it smashed my glass table and I've got a TV under it as well, I've no idea if that's broken or not.

"When it came down there was just this massive cloud of dust."

May, who has recently had a cataract removed from her left eye, is now staying with her daughter, also named May, at her home in East Wemyss.

Daughter May, who estimates that the building ages from Victorian times, has told the Mail of her relief that her mother managed to come through the episode without a scratch.

She said: "I dread to think what would have happened if she had been lying in her bed when the ceiling collapsed - she could have been killed.

"She's now staying with us and has been a bit sick over the past few days with the shock of it all – she said it was like the sound of thunder in her own house.

"But we're hoping to get into the house again soon and begin clearing it all up."

Sadly for Mrs Glass it seems that her home insurance won't cover the damage.

Her insurers are putting the collapse down to "wear and tear" meaning that she is having to stump up an estimated £575 to have it repaired herself.