Shocking aftermath of Odeon cinema collapse in Newcastle as building 'crumbles' into street

These were the shocking scenes in Newcastle after a cinema dramatically collapsed.

Stunned witnesses told how the old Odeon cinema in the city centre “crumbled” into the street late on Monday night.

Scaffolding twisted into a mangled wreck on Pilgrim Street as debris were scattered across the road, narrowly missing bystanders.

One eyewitness told the Chronicle “dreaded to think what could have happened.”

The side of Pilgrim Street next to the building was closed to traffic at the time but the other side was open. Around ten people were waiting at two bus stops at the time.

A bus stop next to the building, which has been under demolition since January, was crushed and a clean up operation was taking place in the early hours of Tuesday.

A police cordon was put up in the aftermath and the road is now closed to traffic, It is unclear when it will reopen.

A police officer at the scene told an eyewitness that the collapse was not intended to have happened the way it did.

Eyewitness Esther Beadle was waiting at the bus stop across the road from the old cinema when she saw the entire collapse.

The 28-year-old said there was a “deep rumble” before what was left of the building and scaffolding slowly collapsed into the street.

She said the collapse was preceded by six or seven workmen standing near the building and talking in a “animated” way.

Esther, who was waiting for the number 1 bus home to Heaton after a night out at the theatre at the Northern Stage, said: “The men were stood in the centre of Pilgrim Street and there seemed to be in some sort of disagreement, or at least a heated discussion.

“Then they left and about three minutes later the building all of a sudden just started to collapse down towards the bus stop.

“There was a deep rumble and it slowly, but violently, crumbled down towards us.

“There was lots of dust flying around and scaffolding poles scattered towards us.

“The bus stop on the side of Pilgrim Street next t the cinema was crushed.

“The road on the northbound side was blocked, no traffic could get through.

“The reaction from the crowd was shocked, there was no panic as it happened so slowly. But there was confusion over whether it was meant to collapse.

“There was then lots of activity from the workmen who started to swarm towards the building and some started talking on their phones.

“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.

“I dread to think what might have happened had things been slightly different. That’s a big worry.

“About five minutes after it collapsed some police officers arrived who told me they had also been round the corner and had heard what had happened.

“After about 25 minutes a cordon was put up and traffic was stopped.

“I didn’t see any ambulances arrive when I was there.

“I spoke to a police officer who said the building was supposed to come down but ‘not like that.’

“He said the southbound lane of Pilgrim Street was closed to traffic at the time.”

The cinema last screened a film in 2002 and has stood empty for 14 years. The iconic cinema is being removed after its owners submitted plans to clear the site and transform the area of the city into a retail hub.