Louth Town Hall: ‘Road closure is a precaution’

The chief executive of Louth Town Hall has confirmed that a ‘very small amount’ of decorative masonry came off the top of the building, resulting in the road closure in Little Eastgate yesterday - but he added that the road closure is merely a ‘precaution’ while the issue is being rectified.

The stretch of Eastgate - known as 'Little Eastgate' - has been temporarily closed.

As reported previously, Lincolnshire County Council’s Highways department closed the road to both vehicles and pedestrians yesterday afternoon (Thursday).

A council spokesman said this was “due to the risk of masonry falling from the building”, which has been confirmed to refer to the town hall itself.

This morning, Louth Town Hall chief executive Andy Howlett told the Leader that a ‘tiny amount’ of masonry had fractured and fallen down, about the equivalent size of half a roof tile. He added that the broken piece was purely decorative, and was nothing to do with the structure of the town hall building itself.

However, due to the height of the building, even small pieces of masonry could pose a risk to vehicles or pedestrians below.

Mr Howlett said: “(The road closure) is a precaution. It is a very small amount, but it’s 22 metres up so we’ve got to be sure it is safe.

“We are in the process of getting it sorted, but it’s not easy. We are trying to find a drone surveyor. Until we know, we want to be safe.”

He added that the damage was probably caused by a combination of the snow and wind, with ice ‘getting behind’ the decorative stonework.

• The expected duration of the road closure (between St James’ Church and Ye Olde Whyte Swanne) has not been determined at this stage.