Belfast's Victoria Square Apartments damage 'worse than expected'

Residents of the apartments in Belfast on Chichester Street were advised to vacate the building in April

Homeowners at Victoria Square Apartments in Belfast are expected to be told that damage to the building could be worse than first thought.

BBC News NI understands stakeholders have been called to a meeting next week.

In April, residents were told to vacate the building "immediately for safety reasons".

A letter at the time from estate agency McGuinness Fleck said work was needed to resolve a serious structural issue.

'Shopping centre not affected'

A spokesperson said it would take 20 weeks to complete, but that time has already passed and the majority of residents are still living elsewhere.

There are 91 apartments in the residential development in Chichester Street.

Victoria Square Residential Management Limited maintains the flats.

The commercial section of the building is run by Victoria Square Shopping Centre.

In a statement it said: "Victoria Square Shopping Centre is aware that remedial work is underway on Victoria Square Apartments.

"In light of the issues identified in the apartment block, a structural assessment of the shopping centre was carried out.

"Based on this assessment, Victoria Square Shopping Centre is not affected and continues to trade as normal.

"We continue to monitor the situation as the safety of our customers and employees remains our highest priority."

Victoria Square shopping centre opened in 2008, increasing the amount of shops in the city by one third.