COUNCIL bosses fear an unsafe building could inflict another lengthy road closure like that seen after the House of Lords fire in Barrow.

High Street has been blocked close to its junction with Whittaker Street since last month after part of the back of the former registry office building collapsed.

Barrow Borough Council asked highways bosses at Cumbria County Council to close the road amid fears for public safety.

The building is owned by Jack Cooksey from Barrow-based limited company J C (Barrow) Limited. Mr Cooksey bought it for £110,000 in January 2019.

The borough council's planning manager Jason Hipkiss revealed that structural engineers appointed by Mr Cooksey have been assessing the building and are due to meet with council representatives next week.

"Also present will be structural engineers from Historic England as the building is in a conservation area," he said.

"There will be a need for some form of consent to take down any part of the building.

"The purpose of the meeting is to agree what the state of the building is and what needs to be done.

"We want to resolve the issue as soon as we can."

Meanwhile police are set to start cracking down on motorists abusing a one-way street which drivers have been using to bypass a road closure.

Pete Garbacz from Cando FM flagged up the issue and the highways team from the county council have put up improved signage.

PC Emmie Doughty will also be undertaking regular patrols in the area to deter motorists from illegally turning left onto Buccleuch Street from Coulton Street in order to circumnavigate the road closure.

A spokesman from the county council said: "The borough council advised the road should be closed for public safety reasons because of a structurally unsound building and it's in their hands.

"It's a bit like the House of Lords situation and the road will remain closed until the borough council deem the building to be safe."