SATURDAY morning shoppers had a lucky escape in Cinderford town centre when a huge scaffolding structure collapsed into the street.

Town council CCTV captured the moment that a gust of wind blew a two-storey structure of metal poles, bolts and wooden beams into Market Street at the Triangle at around 9.50am.

Luckily, nobody was hurt in the collapse, while the CCTV footage shows a car driving past the structure seconds before it came down.

A blue Volkswagen that was parked outside The Doghouse Micropub was crushed by the metalwork and the shop front of Vintage Rose Florist was also partially damaged.

Police and HSE investigators were at the scene for several hours, closing the road and both pavements until around 3pm while the mess was cleared from the street.

The structure stood on the site of the former C and J Bakers building, which had been demolished for redevelopment.

Cinderford Town Council said it had raised concerns about the safety of the scaffolding several weeks ago, with local business owners claiming that the structure had been left to stand by itself after the removal of a wall it had been supporting.

Alison Marshall, the owner of Vintage Rose Florist, witnessed the collapse from inside the shop.

She said: “I was in the shop at the time taking a telephone order when I looked out of the window and saw the scaffolding falling towards me."

FULL STORY IN THIS WEEK’S FORESTER