YESTERDAY (September 1) marked a month since Reading's shocking scaffolding accident, which made national news when demolition work taking place at Garrard Street collapsed, injuring three people.

The large building site had been undergoing work as part of the Station Hill Development, when on Thursday, August 1, the mighty collapse caused chaos in the town.

Reading Chronicle:

Witnesses close by described 'a huge bang' and 'a cloud of dust' immediately following the incident, which happened at around 11.15am, sparking a search for trapped pedestrians.

Fortunately, it was soon confirmed that nobody was trapped underneath the rubble, but three people were described as having sustained 'serious injuries' at the time.

Ben Bryant, who was working in the Thames Tower building close to the site, saw the accident unfolding from the window of his office.

He said: "I saw a big cloud of dust come up, which was quite unusual because they [the contractors working on the site] usually control the dust quite well, and then when I looked over at the window I could see the scaffolding come down, and then within seconds there was a lot of police in the area closing off the road and sadly, attending to people who had been injured."

Thames Valley Police immediately cordoned off the area.

Reading Chronicle:

John, a builder working on the site, said: "I heard a rumble and the building just folded over and caved in, I saw an old lady walking and I think it just clipped her, she was taken away by an ambulance, it's shook me."

The building that collapsed was being demolished to make way for housing developments for 538 homes.

A spokesman from demolition contractors, McGee, said in a recent statement: "We can confirm there has been an incident at one of our sites in Reading.

"We are investigating and will provide further updates when facts are available.”