It was a quiet Friday evening and I was just about to leave the office when a call came in saying that a house had collapsed in the town. It was literally just five minute’s walk away so I decided to take a look. It turned out that the gable end had crashed to the ground and it was a good contender for the front page splash the next day. It was just a case of talking to neighbours and I was lucky enough to speak to a girl who had been playing just yards away from the building. It was also the start of an ongoing story which I regularly revisited which culminated in it eventually being rebuilt…

THE gable end of a Scarborough house crashed to the ground – as a nine-year-old girl played just yards away.

Homeowner Ray Cappleman was inside at the time of yesterday’s collapse, but escaped unhurt.

The gable end of the house in Hoxton Road, beside where workmen have been building, has been ripped from the house, exposing the rooms with furniture balanced precariously near the edge.

Nine-year-old Ocean Conley had been playing in Hoxton Road, next to a gap in the terrace, when she heard a noise and looked up. She said: “I was by the digger. One brick came down then loads more came down. The bricks fell not that far from me. I wondered whether there was anyone in there.

“Someone came out of the door because they had been in the kitchen. I was very pleased they were OK. I ran up the street and told my mum.”

The collapse happened at about 5pm. Shocked neighbours watched while building contractors, who have been building new flats in neighbouring Nelson Street, assessed the situation and several residents used their mobile phones to call for the police.

Susan Cappleman, the homeowner, said she had been at work at the time and was “absolutely devastated” when she saw the damage. She said her husband Ray, a painter and decorator, had been home and she was relieved he was unhurt after the ordeal.

She said: “The builders told me that the new flats would make my house better. We were hoping to put it up for sale next year.”

Neighbour Jock Bray said he heard a loud noise from inside his own home. “I just thought they were throwing stuff into the skip. My friend walked by and asked if I had seen it. I ran out and was a bit shocked at what I saw. I won’t be staying here tonight.”

Mary Ellis, who also lives nearby, said the first she knew was when she heard a loud noise. She said: “I’ve got used to the machines making a lot of noise. There was just a lot of noise and dust. I just can’t believe it.”

Another neighbour, Shirley Baines, said: “I heard a rumble but I didn’t associate it with the house because it’s been so noisy here. I looked out of the window and saw the back of the wardrobe and was so shocked.”

Nicola Sharpe, who lives on the opposite side of the road, said: “I looked out and there was a big cloud of dust. That’s when I knew something was wrong. We just couldn’t believe it.”

As published in the Scarborough Evening News on Saturday, October 13, 2007.