'I heard building collapse crash on baby monitor'

Emergency services were called to the site at 08:00 BST on Sunday

Residents have been told to avoid their gardens and keep their windows closed until the collapse of a building in Brighton has been resolved by the city's council.

East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service said it sent three fire engines to the scene at Ryde Road just after 08:00 BST on Sunday. There were no reported injuries.

Danny Edwards, who lives on the road, told BBC Radio Sussex: "I heard a crash on the baby monitor and [saw] a plume of smoke coming down the alleyway."

Brighton & Hove City Council said the building's electricity supply had been disconnected at street level and the cause of the collapse was "not yet known".

A business owner says he is unable to work as his equipment remains trapped inside

Chris Watts, owner of Sprabuild, told the BBC he had rented the building for 25 years and described the site as a "pandemonium" of emergency services on Sunday morning.

"The first floor seems to still be intact, which may be good for me as all my machines are still in there," Mr Watts said.

He said he had been unable to continue his engineering work as his equipment was trapped inside.

'Pretty precarious'

"This morning there's quite a big truck outside, it looks like they're going to start work soon," Mr Edwards said.

"But, it's quite a thin alleyway up the top so they can't get any heavy machinery up."

The adjacent Ryde Road, Hartington Street and Carisbrooke Street form a triangle around the non-residential, privately owned property, with back gardens facing toward the partially collapsed building.

"It looks pretty precarious at the moment," Mr Edwards added.

Residential streets form a triangle around the site, with gardens backing on to the site

Louis Parker, another local resident, said he was awoken on Sunday morning by emergency services knocking on his door, warning him against going in his garden "in case of asbestos and gas".

After a gas inspection "maybe an hour later," he said he was told there were no gas mains running from his house to the affected building.

Matteo Mockler, who lives nearby, added: "It's a bit inconvenient not being able to go out into the garden, but it's not too much of a problem."

"I hope it'll get taken down and sorted shortly."