'It looks like more could go at any minute' - scale of building collapsed revealed in new pictures

‘This is my first time seeing the bit that has collapsed… my shop is just over the road – I live there too.’

Neighbours and residents of Hale gathered around the fencing surrounding a beautiful, 1900-era, red-brick building. But gaze down the side street and it’s an alarming scene.

Many of those red bricks are piled high in the same place where they crashed down just a day ago, erupting a plume of brick dust. Empty space has now taken over where one of its three-storey high walls used to be, while the towering roof slumps over at a precarious angle.

Cracks appeared in the building walls late last week, according to Hale locals. They became worse after the high winds wrought by Storm Eowyn on Friday, and the main thoroughfare through Hale was cordoned off.

And on Saturday, the building on Ashley Road began crumbling. It came down in two falls, say eyewitnesses – one smaller collapse, followed by a larger incident around 15 minutes later.

Police, firefighters and council officers rushed to the scene. Today (Sunday, January 26), the area was covered with scaffolders working on the wreckage – and shocked residents stopped in their tracks on their typical Sunday morning bike rides by metal fencing cutting off the road.

“This is a nightmare, the road has just gone, it’s going to cost thousands,” said one passing cyclist, adding “who knows how long it’s going to take to sort this – a year?”

Another local, who told the Manchester Evening News he used to work in demolition, said: “It wouldn’t surprise me if this is not finished falling over, it looks like more could go at any minute.”

One Hale resident, who wished not to be named, said: “That roof looks ever so precarious. The building was taped off from Friday morning, even