Safety warning after mill roof collapses
BUILDING control officers attended a derelict spinning mill after its roof collapsed.
Rossendale council officials attended Waterside Mill in Bacup following the incident on July 6.
The Grade-II listed building, on Burnley Road, has fallen into ‘a severe state of disrepair’ following a major fire in 2003.
A council spokesperson said: “Our building control officers went to the premises as soon as we were informed on Monday evening (July 6).
They carried out an initial inspection and other than some guttering on roadside that was removed on Wednesday, there was no immediate danger.
“The council reguarly monitors the buiding and previous surveys have shown that in the event of the roof collapsing the main structure of the building would remain in place with little danger of further collapse, which has been borne out by this latest incident.”
A Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: “We were called about this incident but we didn’t attend as it wasn’t causing a risk to life.
“We advised the caller to speak to the council.”
Lancashire County Council said its local highways team has not had any involvement.
Valley Heritage has been working alongside Rossendale council and other partners, including Historic England, to secure the future of the mill, regarded as a gateway into the town. Emergency works were carried out on the premises in 2015.
An application for lottery funding in late 2016 was unsuccessful.