Scaffolding collapsed on a busy market street throwing a 45 year old worker 15ft to the ground.
AN eyewitness said “it was a miracle nobody was killed” when scaffolding collapsed in a town centre.
A 45-year-old worker plunged 15ft to the floor during the incident on Market Street, Chorley on Sunday.
Debris was scattered the pavement and road as the entire structure, which was at the front of Hampson’s toy shop, collapsed.
Matthew Phillipson, 36, was walking along Market Street when he saw the structure crash to the floor.
He said: “I was on the same side of the road, about 50 yards away, when I saw the scaffolding start to move.
“It was like everything happened in slow mot-ion, it just teetered over and smashed on the footpath and road.
“It made a massive crashing noise and I could see metal poles and planks all over the place.
“We ran over and saw there was a man who had fallen. My friend told him to stay still and I phoned for an amb-ulance.
“It’s lucky it happened when the street was quiet. If there had been pedestrians walking past at the time they could easily have been killed.”
“At the time it happened it was a bit breezy but not blowing a gale.”
Paramedics attended to the worker at the scene but he did not require hospital treatment.
Hampson’s is a long-standing Chorley business. The premises are currently undergoing extensive refurbishment.
Police sealed off the road in both directions for several hours as investigations began into the how the incident happened and the material was cleared from the road and pavement.
A spokesman for the Health and Safety Executive said they were aware of the incident and were currently conducting further inquiries.
Via: prestoncitizen.co.uk
