Former Nuneaton Co-op building has collapsed

The building on Abbey Street was in the process of being demolished

Earlier today at 10:52 (Wed 7th August) emergency services were called to the building on Abbey Street after reports that parts of the front of the building had collapsed. 

It's believed demolition of the interior and other parts of the building had already started and the outside had been covered in scaffolding during the works.

It's understood that part of the roof failed and fell onto the scaffolding bringing it down.

Crews from Nuneaton Fires Station attended the scene and carried out a search confirming later that that no-one had been hurt in this incident.

The site and its current state is now being assessed by the demolition contractors to decide the best method of making it safe.

There was a cordon put in place earlier but that has since been removed and members of the public are now being allowed past the building.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has been notified.

A statement from Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council said:-

This morning some debris from the former Coop building in Abbey Street fell onto the scaffolding, which caused it to collapse against the building.

We confirm that no-one has been hurt in this incident. Any debris that fell was contained by the safety exclusion zone – this was in place around the building and staffed by employees of the demolition contractor to prevent any public access to it.

Council senior managers and the building control surveyor were on site almost immediately. The emergency services left the site some time ago, although some police remained in attendance to manage public exclusion until more substantial barriers were put in place. Our initial assessment suggests that the part of the building we plan to retain is unaffected by the incident. Officers continue to assess the situation and we’ll report again once we have further information.