BBC South Lunchtime News: Southampton flats' collapse risk led to evacuation (07/03/25)

Residents of Sundowner Court have been told their building could have collapsed in a fire, after discovering the steel structure wasn't fireproofed. The building has already been undergoing remediation of dangerous cladding for over a year. But the managing agent explains that the decision to evacuate two weeks ago followed a dramatic late-night phonecall from fire engineers who had carried out an invasive survey and identified serious internal defects that were life-critical. Similar invasive surveys will now be carried out on other buildings at Ocean Village in Southampton that were built by the same developer, Wilson Bowden, which was later acquired by Barratt Redrow. In a statement, the developer says that the building was signed off at the time by Local Authority Building Control - but they will be aware that does not absolve the developer from liability for the defects. More on this story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c... ============================ CREDITS: Channel: BBC One Programme: BBC South Today - Lunchtime News Transmission date: 07/03/2025 13.35-13.45 Copyright or other proprietary rights in the clip or the programme are reserved to the BBC. DISCLAIMER: The End Our Cladding Scandal campaign does not use clips of news coverage on cladding scandal and building safety crisis for any commercial purposes, but only for the sole purpose of raising awareness of the cladding and building safety crisis affecting the UK public. ______________________________________ Follow the End Our Cladding Scandal campaign: https://endourcladdingscandal.org/ Twitter: @eocs_official Instagram: endourcladdingscandal