St Leonards high-rise suffers damage as gales blow off external cladding on New Year's Eve - in pictures

Firefighters attended the scene at Bevin Court, Stonehouse Drive just before 8.20am, a spokesperson for East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service (ESFRS) said.

Crews cordoned off the area after the external cladding fell from outside the second floor on to the ground.

Cllr Phil Scott, who is county councillor for the Hollington & Wishing Tree division, where the high-rise flats are located, said the incident could have been a ‘potential disaster’ if the cladding had fallen by the reception and entrance area, injuring someone.

He said: “I met with residents after Carol Prowse, from the Resident Action Group, contacted me and after some of the external cladding became unsafe and fell off the building at the front adjoining the car park.

"A substantial piece of the cladding came away and fell to the ground. Fortunately the cladding that fell was from the first and second floors and fell away from where anyone was passing close to the entrance area / reception areas but it could have been right in front of reception and been a potential disaster for someone.

“I also spoke with the senior East Sussex Fire and Rescue officer on duty and who attended with crews after being called to Bevin Court. The affected part of the building was cordoned off by the fire service.”

He added that officers from Southern Housing, which manages the building, also attended the scene.

Cllr Scott said the fire service was unable to make contact with Hastings Borough Council’s (HBC) building control department, despite several attempts following the incident.

He said he has written to the borough council’s chief executive, Jane Hartnell, expressing his concerns.

Cllr Scott, who is an East Sussex Fire Authority member, said: “I was there at the request of the Resident Action Group, who were clearly worried about the impact of the unstable cladding material and wanted me to offer some support to them, which I did.

“I am extremely concerned that no one seemed to be on call from HBC Building Control. The weather warnings were out there and processes and resources, including people were activated by both ESFRS and Southern Housing during high winds, hail and also heavy rainfall.”

A spokesperson for Hastings Borough Council said: “ESFRS first contacted the council’s emergency out-of-hours line at around 8.30am on December 31 regarding a partial failure to the external render of Bevin Court. Our emergency on-call officer liaised with ESFRS, and further actions were undertaken by the council. The building owners Southern Housing were contacted, and they advised that their own civil engineers were already on their way to the site. No further requests for assistance were made to the council.

“We work closely with all emergency service partners and review the response to local incidents as part of our business-as-usual work. At this time there has been no feedback on this incident, and we expect to hear from ESFRS directly if there was any problem.”