DWP office evacuated after cladding falls to ground

A new £100m civil service office had to be evacuated after a large piece of cladding fell from the top of the building.

Staff were ushered out of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) building at about 10:30 GMT on Wednesday after the cladding crashed to the pavement near the front entrance.

No-one was hurt but a cordon was put around the building after the narrow strip of grey cladding - one of the slats covering the floor-to-ceiling windows on the 7th floor - plunged to the ground.

A DWP spokesperson said: "The building is currently closed until we determine next steps."

They added: "A contractor is on the site after some material above the entrance became loose."

The building is owned by Blackpool Council but a spokesperson said it was a matter for the DWP as the building's occupiers.

The office, known as Fylde View, is home to around 3,000 staff and was named as the best new building in Lancashire at the prestigious North West Regional Construction Awards last September.

The seven-storey building opened last spring and was delivered by Blackpool Council, alongside nationwide developer Muse, and main contractor VINCI Building.

It was the third phase in Blackpool's £350m redevelopment of the Talbot Gateway around the train station, which aims to bring over 8,000 professional workers and students into the town centre.

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