Roof caves in at east London nursery school

The roof of the nursery caved in on Thursday evening

The ceiling of an east London nursery school caved in when another roof fell upon it.

The collapse at the Crossharbour Montessori Day Nursery in the Isle of Dogs happened before 21:00 BST on Thursday when nobody was in the building.

London Fire Brigade said the cave-in had been caused by a third floor roof higher up on the building falling into the second floor nursery.

Tower Hamlets Council said it was "shocked" and would issue a dangerous structure notice for part of the building.

London Fire Brigade said it was caused by another roof falling on the nursery

The pre-school's director Harp Lakhan told the BBC he had been alerted by the parent of a child from the nursery who lives in the adjacent building and that he had been shocked to see the collapse.

He said: "We're working with structural engineers to find out what happened. I'm very grateful that nobody was injured.

"We want a full investigation to establish why this has happened."

Mr Lakhan added that "no one and definitely no children will be allowed near until this is all cleared and repaired".

A spokesperson for Tower Hamlets Council said: “We are shocked at the roof collapse and it is fortunate it happened out of nursery hours."

They said a council team visited the site on Thursday evening to inspect the "privately-owned" building and they "found the roof extension to be unsafe", adding: "We will issue a dangerous structure notice for this section of the building only.

"We have also referred this incident to the Health and Safety Executive."

They continued: “The council’s Early Education team will work with the nursery to support parents and carers who need to seek alternative childcare, whilst the nursery is closed.”