Roof falls in on blue sky thinker Birt

Tony Blair's "blue skies thinker" was lucky to escape injury when his ceiling collapsed.

Lord Birt, charged with creating original solutions to government problems, was out of his office when it caved in.

He returned to a scene of devastation at his Downing Street headquarters.

A memo circulated in Downing Street gives a graphic description of the incident.

Reproduced in the Financial Times today, it says: "The ceiling in John Birt's room collapsed overnight; fortunately it was empty or he would have sustained serious injury."

The collapse has caused tittering among Whitehall mandarins who resent the former BBC chief 's influence.

There are plans for a ?30 million refurbishment of the Downing Street offices but work has been held up amid concern over costs.