Man injured at Inverness shopping park tells of glass 'exploding'

Gary Mitchell was hit on the head by pieces of falling glass

A man has told of being knocked to the ground by falling glass after part of a shop's frontage "exploded".

Gary Mitchell, from Ardersier, was taken to hospital following the incident at Inverness Centre, a retail park on the east side of Inverness.

The 57-year-old said glass fell on his head from a large panel that shattered above him and friends on Tuesday afternoon.

Large parts of the park remain closed to the public following the incident.

A similar incident at another shop in what is Inverness' biggest retail park happened in June this year.

Highland Council has issued the operators of the site with a dangerous building notice under the Building Scotland Act (2003).

This means that the park cannot open until measures have been put in place to meet the conditions of the notice to make the site safe, said the local authority.

Mr Mitchell said he was outside the shop New Look when he was struck

Mr Mitchell told BBC Scotland: "I was standing outside New Look talking to my friend and her daughter and the glass exploded and just came down on our heads.

"I got knocked on the head and knocked to the ground."

He said it had been lucky the whole glass panel had not come down as "someone could have been killed".

Work being done to glass panels at the retail park on Thursday

Highland Council said that in June this year it was made aware of a similar incident at the park.

Inverness Centre has not commented on June's incident.

The centre has said that it was investigating Tuesday's incident in which the shopper, a man, was injured by falling glass and taken to Inverness' Raigmore Hospital for treatment.

A large part of the park, formerly known as Inverness Business and Retail Park and Inverness Shopping Park, remains closed following the latest incident.

Inverness Centre is the largest retail park in Inverness

Highland Council said environmental health officers were assisting with investigations.

A spokeswoman said: "Environmental health were aware of an incident that occurred in the Retail Park in June 2017 outside the Next shop premises, and were involved at the time in that case.

"The recent incidents form part of current investigations."

The spokeswoman said it was for Inverness Centre to make a decision on closing the park.

Signs and barriers at an to Inverness Centre on Wednesday

Inverness Centre said it was investigating Tuesday's incident and assisting the ambulance service with its inquiries.

A spokeswoman for the retail park said: "The Inverness Centre is temporarily closed while we evaluate the cause of the incident. The safety of our customers and staff is our highest priority."