City council building 'crumbling'

The barriers follow a report indicating risk of falling objects

Plymouth's controversial civic centre has been cordoned off because the council says it is dangerous.

The barricades have gone up after a structural engineer's report revealed a risk that bits could fall off the building and hit people walking below.

English Heritage last month said it was protecting the 1960s-built building by giving it a Grade II listing.

The city council, which wants to move out and redevelop the area, is leading a campaign to overturn that decision.

'Cheap materials'

The council says the timing of the cordons going up is coincidental, but supporters of listed status like Chris Robinson are not so sure.

He said: "Let's accept that it is a Grade II listed building and something which we can be proud of instead of saying the sooner we pull it down the better."

Plymouth MP Linda Gilroy says the building is much more dangerous than previously thought.

She said: "It was built after the war using quite cheap materials and construction methods.

"Bits have been falling off it for years, but the latest report shows that it is going to happen more and more."

English Heritage have said that the condition of the building would not change its national significance or its listed status.