Collapsed car park must be fully demolished

A multi-storey car park that partially collapsed will need to be demolished.

The top deck of the Walkden Street car park in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, which had been shut since February last year due to safety concerns, suffered "structural damage" at the end of August.

Now, Mansfield District Council has said inspections have shown a full demolition of the site is needed "to prevent any further risk to the public and to prevent any future collapses".

Three shops on the ground floor - occupied by B&M, Bolek I Lolek Foods, and the British Heart Foundation - will also be levelled.

Work is expected to begin in the coming weeks and take about four months.

An exclusion zone remains in place until this begins, but the council said Stockwell Gate was "open as usual" for shoppers.

Council chief executive, James Biddlestone, said the council had started the process of appointing a contractor.

He added: "We are very grateful for the patience and understanding of everyone affected by this situation, and we appreciate the distress this incident must have caused."

The authority is responsible for the repair and maintenance of the car park, which is leased from the Tesco supermarket.

It said in "unprecedented situations" such as this, the council had powers to take immediate action and then recover reasonable expenses.

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