Stonework falls from building onto bus stop on Wembley High Road

A large piece of stonework fell from a building on Wembley High Road on Saturday night, 24 October, and landed on the pavement at a bus stop where someone was waiting.

The person who filmed the scene said the stone broke away from the front of the building above and came down right next to the bus stop. Nobody has been reported injured, and no official body has said whether anyone was hurt.

Firefighters at the scene

Footage shared with UB1UB2 shows the scene at about 10.15pm. A London Fire Brigade engine with a ladder is parked on the High Road, and firefighters are standing around the broken stone on the wet pavement outside a row of shops, near the Santander branch.

Two large blocks of pale stone can be seen lying at the edge of the kerb by the bus stop. The stop was taped off and crews were seen using a ladder to check the top of the building. Vehicles carried on past in the bus lane while firefighters worked.

The building is one of the red-brick parades with decorative stone detailing on the stretch of the High Road near Wembley Central station, which has shops on the ground floor and flats or offices above. The London Fire Brigade has not published details of the incident, and the exact cause of the fall has not been confirmed.

A busy stretch of road

Wembley High Road is one of the busiest shopping streets in Brent. Thousands of shoppers, commuters and bus passengers use it every day, and on Saturday evenings people walk along it on their way to Wembley Central station and the nearby restaurants.

The fire brigade is often called when masonry or other parts of a building come loose and fall into the street. Crews make the area safe, which can mean taping off the pavement or removing anything else that is loose. The building's owner is then usually responsible for the repairs.

Local councils have powers to deal with dangerous structures. They can tell owners to carry out urgent work where a building poses a risk to the public. Brent Council has not said whether it is involved in this case.

Earlier this year, in June, ten fire engines and around 70 firefighters were called to a fire at a shop with flats above on the same High Road.

Reporting a dangerous building

Anyone who sees loose or falling masonry that poses an immediate danger should call 999. Concerns about the condition of a building can also be reported to Brent Council.