Bramford Road in Ipswich is likely to be closed for several more days at least as work starts to make the former Rose and Crown pub safe.
Engineers from Ipswich council’s building control department and officials from the Health and Safety Executive are still working there in a bid to ensure there is no danger to the public from the building.
They were unable to give any details about the condition of the former pub, which is now a Kurdish Cultural Centre but they will not allow the section of Bramford Road near the junction with Norwich Road to reopen until they are convinced the building is safe.
There has been a tavern on the site of the junction between Bramford and Norwich Roads since at least 1618 – although it is not formally listed because the current building may date from Victorian times.
It is understood there have been structural concerns about the building for many years, certainly from when it was still a public house, because the land it was built on has shifted slightly because it is at the top of a hill.
A spokesman for the borough said: “We are very aware that Bramford Road is a very important route in and out of town and we are keen to be able to reopen it as soon as possible.
“However the safety of drivers, pedestrians and other road users is our over-riding priority and we will not have the road re-opened until we are totally convinced there is no risk to anyone.”
A further statement on the road closure is expected later in the week.
The only people on the site now are the officials from the council and the HSE and anyone they call in to carry out safety work – the builders who had been carrying out the refurbishment are not there at present.
Last week Aran Ismail, of Noore Builders, which is building the extension at the centre, said there was no risk of collapse. He said the road closure was in place as a precaution because there was a problem with the building’s underpinning due to its age.
He added: “There’s some damage to the property, it’s too old and we are trying to make it the safest property in Ipswich, and we will do that.”
Mr Ismail also denied rumours that some load bearing materials had been removed from the building by mistake during the renovation work.
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