Warning after high street building collapse

Pedestrians are being advised to take care after part of the frontage of a listed 17th Century building on a Shropshire high street collapsed.

A section of plaster between timber frames on 45 High Street, Whitchurch, has fallen to the pavement and smashed into the road and across the street.

Rebecca Hurst owns Sophsdram Pet Supplies, which is situated on the ground floor of the building, and said another section of the frontage appeared to be "waiting to come away".

She cleaned up the rubble after being alerted to the issue at 08:30 BST on Sunday and contacted her landlord and the owner of a flat above her premises, and added police had arrived at the scene to cordon it off.

The BBC has contacted West Mercia Police for further details.

The pet shop owner said she had also alerted the highways department at her local council as shards of rubble remained on the road.

"The piece that fell off smashed across the road and landed on the other side of the pavement," she said. "It's the daub of it, the white parts, not the wooden frame."

A cordon is in place on the section of pavement outside the store and a neighbouring premises to make the area safe.

The business owner hopes to be able to open the grooming business as planned on Monday, but is awaiting further information.

A Whitchurch Town Council spokesperson said they understood Shropshire Council Highways had been updated.

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