Traffic chaos as building collapses in Chelsea

Traffic was brought to a standstill in one of west London's busiest roads when part of a building being turned into flats collapsed.

Police were forced to close off part of Fulham Road in Chelsea after a section of the development by the Thornsett Group fell in at 3.45pm yesterday.

Structural engineers were due to inspect the site today to rule on whether the building is now safe enough for the road to be re-opened.

Thornsett has been given planning permission by Kensington and Chelsea council to turn the terrace of period buildings into 56 apartments and 14 shops.

The company, which has been responsible for a number of projects across the capital including 64 flats near the Olympic Park, started work on the project in October and had been due to finish at the beginning of next year. A worker at a restaurant near the development, which takes up an entire block, said: "There was a lot of dust. The traffic was really bad afterwards. A bus picked people up from right outside just before it collapsed but no one was hurt."

A spokesman for the Thornsett Group said their engineers were on site to assess the damage.

He said: "The engineers are currently investigating the incident and we can confirm there have been no injuries."