Fences have been put up around an empty shop in Newport, after masonry fell down onto the pavement below.

Pedestrians on Commercial Street in the city centre had a lucky escape yesterday (Wednesday, February 16), after a chunk of masonry fell from a building onto the main shopping street below.

Thankfully, the store in question has long been vacant, and as a result, there was no one stood directly below at the time, shortly after 11am.

Following the incident, the South Wales Fire and Rescue service were called to the scene, and they put a cordon in place around the former Outlet and Next store, in case more material fell.

Today, that cordon has been replaced by a more substantial fence, in a bid to keep passers-by safe.

The measure is certainly a timely one, with Storm Eunice just hours away from reaching land, and with it, bringing winds of up to 100 miles-per-hour, which could have a devastating impact on what could be an unstable section of the property.

It is thought that the earlier, but less severe Storm Dudley may have played a part in the masonry falling down, during what has been a miserable week of weather in Newport – which is only likely to get worse as we move towards the weekend.

What has been said about the incident?

A spokeswoman for the South Wales Fire and Rescue service told the Argus: “At approximately 11:25am on the 16th February 2022 we received a report of concern regarding a building structure on Commercial Street in Newport.

“A crew attended the scene to locate debris and put a cordon in place as a safety precaution.

“A stop message was received at 11:55am.”