Crumbling Notre-dame ‘could fall down’

NOTRE-DAME Cathedral faces collapse unless donors give €100million (£87million) for urgent repair work on its flying buttresses, spire, stainedglass windows, gargoyles and stonework, conservationists have warned.

The 853-year-old cathedral attracts about 14 million visitors a year. But time, weather and pollution have taken their toll on the masterpiece, leaving it in a perilously poor condition.

Beside the main western entrance, which was recently restored, large cracks have appeared across the façade and the supporting structure holding up the windows could collapse in the event of a storm. The last time the cathedral was fully restored was in 1845 The the in the wake of Victor Hugo’s novel Hunchback of Notre Dame and author’s appeal to save the edifice.

“If Victor Hugo could see it now, he would be just as alarmed as he was back then,” said Michel Picaud, of the Friends of Notre Dame de Paris foundation.

He said the work needs to be carried out within six to 10 years.