Staff ReporterShocking images showing debris strewn across a Newcastle street after an old cinema collapsed in front of stunned bystanders have emerged
Several Eyewitnesses told how the old Odeon cinema, which was scheduled for a demolition, in the city centre “crumbled” late on Monday night, reported
A police cordon was put up in the road which remains closed as the clean-up operation continues on Tuesday morning. It is unclear when it will reopen.
Reports that ten people were stood at two bus stops on Pilgrim Street when the building came down.
Esther Beadle, 28, who was waiting at the bus stop across the road from the old cinema, said: “The noise when it collapsed was so loud that some taxi drivers came running around the corner to see what had happened.
“Luckily no rubble made it as far as the pavement on our side, but had it been just a little bit further it would have done.”
Newcastle Odeon last screened a film in 2002 and has stood empty for 14 years.
The historic 1931 built cinema was given listed status in 2000, but this was removed by the arts minister a year later.
The iconic cinema is being removed after its owners submitted plans to clear the site and turn it into a retail hub.
