Video: Urgent repair work carried out at The Mill apartment block in Ipswich following storm

Members of T & I Solutions and Anglo Access Rope Access teams remove damaged materials from The Mill

Buildings in the town’s Waterfront were battered by ferocious winds when the storm hit, ripping parts of The Mill’s exterior walls off. Safety work to the apartment block’s exterior started yesterday and is expected to be completed this afternoon.

Adam Brace, 30, project manager of Ipswich-based T and I Solutions, were called to carry out the daring work on the building.

“There’s a fair amount of work to do to the building – we are not repairing it as such but making it safe,” he said.

“We abseiled from the top of the building and first went all the way down to examine which parts needed work. Then we started at the top and began clearing all the debris from the building.

“Anything that’s on the building and unsafe we will take away. As a rule of thumb we can work in winds of up to 20mph – anything up to that and we are safe.”

The two-man team were joined by a duo from Anglo Access to carry out the work.

On Monday, part of the nearby one-way system was closed because of the risks to pedestrians and motorists from the building’s falling debris.

A wall in nearby College Street collapsed during the storm spilling bricks into the road also causing disruption.

And the usually busy route was closed until just after 2pm today over fears scaffolding could fall into the road.