This is the astonishing sight in Hale village this afternoon after the rear of a former bar collapsed in on itself.
The three-storey building on Ashley Road, which dates back to the early 1900s, had been cordoned off since early Friday morning after large cracks appeared on its rear walls.
And with the situation having worsened significantly overnight, the inevitable happened this afternoon, with masonry and part of the roof falling in, with the most dramatic collapse happening at around 3.40pm.
Watch the collapse here:
The entire rear of the building is now completely exposed and with a large section of the roof hanging by a thread, a further collapse over the coming hours appears to be extremely likely.
The building had been most recently been occupied by Atticus bar but was sold to new owners in January 2024 for £825,000.
In the same month, the new owners had secured planning permission from Trafford Council to carry out building work in order that it could be reopened as a new private medical practice.
That work had involved the erection of a rear extension to the basement and ground floor level as the building was remodelled to include four consultation rooms, a reception and waiting room, counselling room, education suite and other rooms.
The work has evidently placed a huge strain on the building, however, and yesterday morning the appearance of several large cracks at the building's rear caused Ashley Road to be temporarily closed off and neighbouring businesses evacuated.
One hairdresser from The Knot hair salon, which adjoins the former Atticus bar, told us that police had rushed in while he was cutting a client's hair and demanded that the salon be instantly shut. The salon has this evening announced that it will be relocating its services temporarily to The Head Shed on Victoria Road in Hale.
Damage to the rear of the building had noticeably worsened overnight, and this morning it appeared to be only a matter of time until a collapse followed.
That came just after lunch today, when a large section of masonry holding a corner together collapsed.
Watch that moment here:
But the most dramatic moment came at around 3.40pm, when almost the entire rear section caved in in front of astonished bystanders, with plumes of dust billowing into the sky.
Structural engineers and police have been at the scene all day, but the structure has been too fragile to approach.
Drone footage showing the damage from above:
A scaffolding company has attached a large amount of scaffolding to the front of the building, which faces on to Ashley Road, in an attempt to at least protect that part of the building.
But this evening, Ashley Road around the junction with Bath Place is completely cordoned off, meaning that motorists are being prevented from driving through the village from the Stamford Road junction.
There's also a significant police presence as residents and local businesses await further developments in this moving story.
Police at the scene this evening:
