A building that had only recently been home to a Bolton van hire company has suddenly collapsed.
The former U Drive site on Blackburn Road, Astley Bridge , was unoccupied when the roof appeared to give way on Monday night after a period of heavy rainfall.
But U Drive owner and former borough councillor Stuart Lever says he was shocked when he saw the extent of the damage the following morning.
He said: “I was driving down there on Tuesday morning and I couldn’t believe it when I saw it.
“It had just collapsed, the building was gone!”
He added: “We used to be in that building until about four- or five-weeks ago so we could have been in there when it collapsed!”
An image from the scene shows how the roof had completely collapsed with many of the brick walls damaged as well.
Mr Lever explained that he believes the building collapsed at around 11.30am on Monday night and that the heavy rain that evening may have played a part in hastening the process.
But he says that he feels the building had already fallen into ‘disrepair’ in the weeks since U Drive vacated.
He said: “It probably would have collapsed eventually even without the rain, it just wasn’t up to it anymore.”
Seeing the flattened building was an alarming experience for the businessman and former Astley Bridge councillor.
Be he says the consequences could have been much worse if his company, which made its home on the Blackburn Road premises for many years, had still been occupying the building.
He said: “People are just lucky that it was only the building that was damaged and that no one was inside and no lives were lost.”
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Cllr Rabiya Jiva, who represents the Crompton area on Bolton Council, says she is aware of the matter and will ensure that people’s safety remains the authority’s highest priority.
She said: “I’m looking into it, the safety of members of the public is of paramount importance and I will be doing all that I can to ensure that this is taken care of safely.”
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