Motorists trapped as fallen scaffolding blocks Coventry car park

The incident happened during Storm Freya, but it is not known if the winds were to blame



A section of scaffolding came crashing down in Coventry city centre last night.

The incident happened during Storm Freya, but it is not known if the winds were to blame.

The scaffolding came down at the Skydome, blocking the entrance to the multi-storey in Croft Road, trapping motorists inside the car park for 90 minutes.

Luckily, no motorists were passing under the scaffolding as it fell - which would almost certainly have caused severe damage.

But for those looking to leave the car park after the blockage occurred, they faced a lengthy wait to make their escape.

One motorist revealed that he was stuck inside the car park for an hour-and-a-half, unable to leave.

Eventually, contractors arrived and dismantled the scaffolding - though it is unclear as to if these workmen were involved in the work requiring scaffolding in the first place.

It is believed that the scaffolding fell down at around 7.30pm last night, Sunday, March 3, during Storm Freya.

One motorist took to Twitter, revealing that he was stranded in the car park.

In a later Tweet, he said: "Was one point where I thought I was going to be sleeping in a car park.

The Skydome themselves have declined to comment on the matter, with a spokesperson telling CoventryLive : "We are not in a position to comment."

West Midlands Fire Service said they were not called to the incident, and when asked by CoventryLive if they were called to the car park, West Midlands Police said they were too busy to check.

Despite the wind, this shouldn't have happened. Someone hasn't done their job properly.

The wind was 22 mph in Coventry when I checked that day.

Firm fined £15k after scaffolding collapse trapped drivers at Coventry Skydome

A company has been hit with a £15,000 fine after scaffolding collapsed at the Coventry Skydome and trapped motorists inside a car park.

The scaffolding, which was four metres high, had been put up to protect the public from falling debris, but instead came plummeting down in strong winds as Storm Freya hit the country in March 2019.

It collapsed across the entrance to the multi-storey car park in Croft Road and some motorists were trapped inside for an hour-and-a-half before workers arrived to clear it out of the way.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that the scaffolding was not adequately fixed into the structure and was not designed and installed to withstand foreseeable wind loads.

The HSE found the management of the scaffolding operation was well below the expected standard because it did not identify the need for a bespoke design, required to ensure the strength and stability of the proposed scaffolding structure.

Climar Scaffolding Limited, of Widney Avenue, Birmingham, pleaded guilty to breaching construction regulations at Coventry Magistrates' Court and was fined £15,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2,532.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Edward Fryer said: “Scaffolds need to be adequately tied, in line with the recognised health and safety requirements or a bespoke design should be created based on established engineering principals. In this case the scaffolding was not properly designed or adequately tied into the permanent structure.

“It’s only a matter of fortune that nobody was seriously injured. The collapse presented a significant risk to the safety of the public.”

I'm surprised they didn't blame Covid-19!