Storm Henk CHAOS: Shocking footage captures shoppers in near miss as scaffolding collapses in town centre
Shoppers in Sutton, South London were scampering for safety as scaffolding came crashing down in the town centre.
In a shocking moment, pedestrians are seen backtracking as the construction work collapses.
Metal poles and wooden planks are seen sprawled out across the tarmac where thousands of shoppers walk every day.
High street mainstays like HSBC, Poundland and WHSmith are within close vicinity of where the incident took place.
Staggered social media users offered their reaction to the near miss incident, saying it could have been catastrophic.
“That’s not funny, it literally could have taken someone out”, an Instagram user commented.
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“Thank God there was no one walking under it”, another added.
Sutton Council responded to the collapse on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying: “We are currently responding to reports of fallen scaffolding on Sutton High Street.
“Thankfully no one was hurt.
“@MPSSutton @LFBSUtton and council officers are on site to ensure the area is made safe.
“Storm Henk is causing strong winds across the borough.”
Heavy rain and winds of up to 80mph were possible and the Met Office warned of travel disruption, roof damage and possible power cuts across southern England, the Midlands, East Anglia and Wales.
The amber warning stated: “A spell of very strong winds, already having affected southwest England, will move eastwards across parts of south Wales, southern England, the south Midlands and East Anglia during the afternoon and evening.
“Gusts of 70-80 mph are likely on exposed coasts in the west. Inland, gusts of 50-60 mph are more probable, but perhaps briefly 60-70 mph in one or two places.”
There was also a broad yellow warning for wind across central and southern parts of the UK, where forecasters said that gusts of up to 70mph around exposed coastal parts were possible.
The Environment Agency had issued 181 flood warnings and 331 flood alerts were in place by 4.30pm.
National Grid said there were there around 1,000 properties without power in Cornwall by 4.50pm.