A man was seriously injured and a section of Westgate closed for two and a half hours on Saturday when a building collapsed, for the second time this month. As workmen fought to free Mr. Keith Royle, hundreds of cars were diverted around the town. Buses were stopped, their passengers unloaded and escorted past the unsafe building. Mr. Royle is believed to have been using a circular saw on the first floor of the block, which partially collapsed three weeks ago.


He was working for Mr. John England of Burnley Building and Construction Ltd. who himself narrowly escaped injury in a similar collapse three weeks ago. Mr. England was working with Mr. Steven Burrows when the building started to shake after the passing of a large wagon. They jumped clear as the building collapsed, burying their van in tons of rubble.

On Saturday workmen near the building heard a sharp crack and saw Mr. Royle come down under a mountain of rubble and dust. They ran to the scene and found him trapped by his legs and body. They fought to free him until the ambulance arrived. Mr. Royle was taken to Burnley General Hospital where his condition was described as "satisfactory." An emergency team of demolition men on the spot to deal with the McDougall Rose paint shop on the corner of the block were called in after the collapse. They had been separately contracted by Burnley Borough Council to demolish the paint shop. All men and machines were in position and traffic was being controlled with lights, when the building three doors away collapsed. As a result of that collapse they were asked to complete the whole project and make the road safe as quickly as possible, so they moved in and demolished the block. The road was re-opened by noon on Saturday.