Portsmouth man left 'shocked' after part of his house collapses

Joe Jordan, 29, was watching television in the living room of his Manor Park Avenue home in Copnor when he heard a loud crash from upstairs.

He said: ‘I jumped up as soon as I heard the noise and ran upstairs but I couldn’t see anything. It was only when my neighbours told me that part of my wall had collapsed onto their house and into our gardens that I realised what had happened.

‘It was when I opened up the loft hatch and peered through and I could see daylight that I realised the extent of the problem.’

Still in shock at what had happened to his £190,000 house, Joe contacted Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service who sent out a specialist team to assess the damage.

Joe added: ‘I have never had any problems before and so this is totally out of the blue. For the first few minutes I just didn’t know what to do.

‘I had a structural assessment carried out when I bought the house and this is just a real shock. The house had been sold subject to contract and so this could obviously cause a problem. I now need to speak with the buyer to see what they want to do.’

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Joe has been advised by the fire service’s specialist team to sleep downstairs and limit time spent upstairs. He has also contacted his home insurance company.

Joe said: ‘My insurance company are sending someone round tomorrow to assess the damage. I’m really glad house insurance was mandatory when I purchased the property.’

Due to Joe’s house being higher than surrounding properties, debris from the collapsed wall fell onto his next door neighbour’s house causing damage to their property.

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service confirmed that an appliance and ladder platform attended from Southsea Fire Station after receiving a call at 1.07pm. Fire crews were stood down at 5.22pm.

A Hampshire Fire and Rescue spokesman said: ‘A specialist Urban Search and Rescue Team were sent from Eastleigh to secure the building.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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