A TERRACED shop that partially collapsed into a town centre street in the early hours of yesterday will have to be demolished.

The front of the building, a second-hand store in South Terrace, Seaham, County Durham, gave way at about 5am, spilling debris onto the pavement.

No one was hurt and council workers cordoned off the site, in the town’s main shopping area, while structural engineers examined what was left of the building. They have since informed the owners, Gurdeep and Jaspal Bhondi, that all or part of the shop will have to be taken down.

Jim Dailey, 53, a director at Seaham Roofing, in nearby Church Street, said: “I got a call this morning to say the shop had collapsed.

“It was a second-hand shop that sold furniture.

“I’ve noticed the roof has been sagging for a lot of years and it’s the only one in the street like it.

“The shop forms part of a corner block.

“I’m not surprised it’s happened, because its been in a state of disrepair for many years.”

A Durham County Council spokesman said its structural engineers carried out an assessment of the building in the wake of the collapse.

“Due to the condition of the structure they have advised the owner of the property that it is likely that all or part of the building will have to be demolished,”

he said.

“It is now the responsibility of the owner to carry out a risk assessment prior to undertaking any work that is required to ensure that the building doesn’t create any further problems to adjacent buildings or the highway in front of it.”

Gas and electricity company staff were also called to the damaged property to ensure the supplies were safe.

Gurdeep Bhondi said he thought the recent heavy snow had weakened the roof, which had been caught by the wind blowing off the sea.

He said roof trusses had snapped leading to the front wall coming away and falling to the ground.

“It happened at 5am and it’s lucky it was at that time, because there were no pedestrians about. It is a nightmare,”

he added.