Dozens evacuated from homes after houses collapse in west London

Nobody thought to be hurt in ‘total collapse’

Two houses collapsed in Durham Place in Chelsea, west London (Victoria Jones/PA)

Around 40 people were forced to leave their homes after two multimillion-pound houses, which were being renovated, collapsed in west London.

The two mid-terrace properties on Durham Place in Chelsea fell down shortly before midnight on Monday evening.

Emergency services evacuated nearby homes and said nobody was thought to be hurt.

London Fire Brigade described the scene as a "total collapse".

Station Commander Jason Jones said: "There was a total collapse of the building from the roof to ground level.

"Firefighters worked to make the scene safe and our drone team carried out a search."A police search dog also carried out an external search of the building and at this stage, there are no reports of any injuries."

A man in his 30s who witnessed the building collapse and was the first to call police returned to the scene the next morning, telling the PA news agency: "I live in the area and was just passing by when the building suddenly collapsed to the ground.

"It was extremely loud, there was dust everywhere.

"There were a lot of people coming out of their homes in the surrounding area to see what was going on, they were unharmed.

"It was quite bad, really surreal.

"The police were amazing, I was still on the phone with them when the first patrol came to the scene," he said.

"The evacuation was done in a Covid-secure way and they did a good job," he added, as he thanked a police officer at the scene on Tuesday morning.

Planning permission was given the green light by Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea council in August last year.

A council document detailed the works to be carried out - a rear extension to lower ground floor with a terrace on the upper level — which was an amendment to a previous application granted in July 2018.

The council warned in the application letter that "if not properly managed, construction works can lead to significant negative impacts on the local environment, reducing residential amenity and the safe function of the highway".

A planning application for the neighbouring property was made less than two weeks ago, with a council letter dated 23 October detailing "basement excavation, demolition of extension and roof terrace and replacement with a two-storey rear extension with roof terrace, and a single storey extension at the lower ground floor".

It said a decision from the council was expected on 19 November.

One seven-bedroom house a few doors down from those that collapsed sold last year with a value of around £16m, according to figures on property website Rightmove.

The quiet road opposite Royal Hospital Chelsea was cordoned off on Tuesday morning with police and surveyors at the scene to determine what caused the two houses to fall into ruin.

Additional reporting by PA media