Section of street cordoned off after front of former Hartlepool shops collapses into road

A section of a Hartlepool street has been closed off after the front of a former shop collapsed and crashed across a pathway and road.

By Fiona Thompson and Mark Payne

Published 8th Feb 2021, 11:41 BST

Updated 8th Feb 2021, 14:17 BST

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Barriers have been put up around the damaged section of the old Northern Textiles shades and blinds building on its section on Hart Lane, with its window and timber left lying in the street,

Plastic hoardings have also been installed at the front of the property on Raby Road.

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The building has since been boarded up following the collapse of the shop front.

The building has since been boarded up following the collapse of the shop front.

A road closure sign has been put in place, but traffic is still able to negotiate the junction between Raby Road, Hart Lane and Middleton Road.

The section of the building which has now collapsed was struck in a collision between a Ford Escort and a Vauxhall Insignia on Tuesday, December 1.

The Escort was left in the side of the property following the incident, which left six people in need of hospital treatment and led to the arrest of four men.

Kieran Bostock, Hartlepool Borough Council’s Assistant Director – Place Management, said: “Our emergency call-out team attended over the weekend to put in place traffic management measures around the area of the shop and to make the area safe and we are working with the building’s owners to ensure that the necessary repair work is carried out.”

The scene of the damage following the collapse of the former Northern Textiles shop.

The scene of the damage following the collapse of the former Northern Textiles shop.

Today, people in the street called for action over the “eyesore” and called for it to be secured.

Dog walker Emma Padgett, 41, said: "It's been a mess for a long time. Part of it fell down not long ago.

"I think something should have been done then. It's an accident waiting to happen.

"It is just lucky no one was hurt.

Police on the scene of December's collision.

Police on the scene of December's collision.

"I walk my dogs past all the time and I won't be doing it any more, not until I know there have been some thorough repairs.

"If someone had been walking past with kids it doesn't bear thinking about."

Funeral director Derek Noble, who has the shop next door, said: "It's already hurt somebody when the other side collapsed about a year ago.

"I just can't understand how the whole window frame can fall out.

A shot from Google shows what the shop looked like before its closure.

A shot from Google shows what the shop looked like before its closure.

"It's just lucky nobody was walking down here because it's quite a busy road.

"The weight of it would have killed them."

Mr Noble said he understands there are plans to convert the building into flats.

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Hartlepool Hartlepool Borough Council