Updated: Dislodged weather vane causes Coventry evacuation

[dutchman]

Hundreds of workers were evacuated from their offices in Coventry after winds helped dislodge the "quarter-tonne" weather vane of a nearby former church.



The vane at the top of the spire of Christchurch - now Inspires bar - on New Union Street is still at an angle.

A spokesman for Coventry City Council said about 500 people from Christchurch House, Spire House and the Methodist Central Hall were all evacuated.

The area remains cordoned off with repairs due to begin on Tuesday.

Buildings to reopen

Nigel Clews, assistant director of property management at the city council, said the problem with the vane was reported at about 13:20 BST.

"The weather has clearly contributed to it but we believe a security fastening inside the spire has either broken or bent which has allowed the vane to bend over at an angle," he said.

"Steeplejacks have been here today looking at how to make it safe tomorrow, pending a permanent repair."

Mr Clews added that adjacent Christchurch House and Spire House council buildings should reopen on Tuesday, but there may be an adverse knock-on for some services.

"The services that are affected are the benefits service but that is capable of being accessed from another access. Corporate finance, youth offending service and some NHS staff are affected. As far as we can we'll be providing a service from the building," he said.

"People need to report to Christchurch and Spire House as normal but there will be parts of the building they will not be able to access."

Christchurch spire, along with those at St Michaels and Holy Trinity in the city centre, make up Coventry's three spires.

[dutchman]

Steeplejacks have removed the wobbly weather vane that caused part of Coventry city centre to be sealed off.



It took them less than an hour to go up in the cherry picker in the strong winds and bring the weather vane down to the ground.

It will now be taken away to be repaired before it is replaced at a later date.

Shoppers gazed in disbelief as they watched the copper and gold vane rocking back and forth on top of the 200ft-high landmark spire, above city bar Inspire, in New Union Street.

The drama started at 2pm and police officers and council workers cordoned off the surrounding area and evacuated council buildings Christchurch House and Spire House.

Staff and shoppers in Hertford Street and Coventry Methodist Central Hall were also moved away.

A professional steeplejack was called to remove the weather vane but the windy weather meant it could not be taken down on Monday.

Metal railings were last night installed around the perimeter of the site. Signs warned: “Danger. Do not pass this point. Risk of injury/death from falling objects.”

Trevor Gay, manager of the central hall, in Warwick Lane, said: “We had 25 people evacuated from our building – the council said they were taking precautions. We’ve closed the church until we’re told it’s safe to return.

“We have a few parked cars at the side which obviously cannot be moved – if the weather vane falls on them it could be a problem. It has been extremely windy so there is always the chance it could fall if we continue to get gusts of wind.

“We’re just glad it didn’t happen during our big events. On Saturday we had 400 people here for the launch of a new hymn book – we’re very lucky it didn’t happen then.”