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'Miracle' escape as stone falls from shop roof
By Vicky Carr
A STONE fell from the roof of a Wetherby building this week, narrowly missing a mother and her baby.
The large piece of masonry fell without warning from above the Fennel delicatessen in Market Place around lunchtime on Tuesday.
It hit the awning above Johnson’s greengrocer before falling to the floor.
There were several people nearby and witnesses said it fell close to a young mother pushing her child in a pram.
Chris Glew, owner of Arena Hair, said: “It landed right outside our door. If that awning hadn’t been there it would have just gone straight down outside Johnson’s.”
Lionel Strubb, owner of the Fennel, added: “It’s a miracle no-one was hurt.
“The building people said they have bits of York Minster falling daily at the moment and it’s quite common.
“I understand the building is now safe, but it raises concerns about some of the other buildings. Nobody ever looks at the roofs, but they will now.”
Dave Trelfa of Trelfa Roofing was called to the scene by a local business owner just minutes after the stone fell.
“He didn’t know what to do,” said Mr Trelfa. “We went out there and there was another piece just hanging there.
“This morning (Wednesday) when we went we found an even bigger piece had fallen. If that had come down it would have killed someone.”
Police set up a cordon around the building until the scaffolding was erected. But Mr Trelfa said there had been problems tracking down the building’s owner, who was thought to be based in London.
A spokeswoman for Leeds City Council said :"Our building control services have been in touch with the owner and we are satisfied they are carrying out the necessary work to make the building safe.
“We will shortly be writing to the owners to suggest they complete a structural survey on the whole building."
vicky.carr@ypn.co.uk
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Weather for Wetherby
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: East
