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Shards of glass were falling from derelict Winckley Square building during Storm Éowyn

Posted on - 28th January, 2025 - 10:15am | Author - | Posted in - Politics, Preston City Centre, Preston Council, Preston News, Redevelopment, Winckley Square
Firefighters were sent into Lanson House after reports of falling glass in the strong winds Pic: Blog Preston

Fire crews were scrambled to a derelict city centre building during Storm Éowyn.

Nearby building owners and residents reported glass falling from Lanson House during Friday 24 January as the city was hit by 70mph winds.

The building in Winckley Square and Mount Street has stood empty and has many broken windows – which are not boarded up.

Read more: Preston’s decaying heritage – council vow action on ‘dangerous’ buildings as stonewalling by property owners continues

A nearby business owner told Blog Preston: “We had to call the fire service as the owners had failed to board up the majority of the broken windows.

“There were extremely dangerous shards of glass and the windows were swinging wide open and extremely likely to blow off with the high possibility of causing injury to passers by and damage to vehicles.”

A spokesperson for Lancashire and Fire and Rescue Service said: “During the high winds on Friday morning, windows from a derelict building were falling on to the street below.

“Firefighters using one aerial ladder platform made the scene safe and cleared the debris before handing the incident over to the police and local council.”

In July last year businesses and residents in Winckley Square hit out at the state of a number of buildings on the Square – including Lanson House – saying they had become ‘death-traps’ and a ‘blight’ on the area.

A Preston City Council ‘task force’ was launched in late 2024 to tackle empty buildings in the city and encourage building owners to secure their premises.

A city council spokesperson said: “Officers attended the site on Friday. Action was taken to close the road. No planning or building control enforcement action has been taken.”

Blog Preston understands all roads have since reopened following Friday’s storms.

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