Rubbish falls off Wednesbury town centre building roof

Passers-by had a lucky escape when rubbish from the roof of a Wednesbury town centre building crashed onto the pavement below today.

The building houses the Co-operative Funeralcare business at the junction of Spring Head and Riddings Lane, and rubble is thought to have come down between 7am and 7.30am.

When workers at the funeral directors arrived at around 9am, they were shocked to see the rubbish littering the street, and called both the owner of the building and the police. Rubbish that had fallen from the roof varied from old papers, leaflets, cardboard boxes, soda bottles and cans, a plank of wood that could have been extremely dangerous, license plates and a car tyre.

The building, which dates back to the 1850s, was cordoned off while checks are carried out on the roof. Even more rubbish was found on the roof. Sandwell Council are expected to raise taxes in order to get the rubbish removed.

Wednesbury Councillor Elaine Costigan said: “I have no idea how all this rubbish got on the roof, but we are going to have to raise taxes throughout Sandwell to get it removed from both the roof and the street.”