Blackpool’s new £100million DWP office has been evacuated this morning after a large piece of cladding plunged from the building.

Staff were ushered out of the council-owned building at around 10.30am after the cladding crashed to the pavement near the front entrance.

The narrow strip of grey cladding was one of the ‘slats’ covering the floor to ceiling windows on the 7th floor, located directly above the main entrance.

The completed Fylde View office is home to over 3,000 DWP employees | Blackpool Council

placeholder image — The completed Fylde View office is home to over 3,000 DWP employees | Blackpool Council

A cordon was put in place and Lancashire Police were informed, but no one is believed to have been injured.

Blackpool Council, who own the building, were approached for comment but a spokesperson said it was a matter for the DWP as the building occupiers.

Gazette reader Cody Sampson has shared an image of the affected area with the missing cladding.

The narrow strip of grey cladding was one of the ‘slats’ covering the floor to ceiling windows on the 7th floor, located directly above the main entrance | Cody Sampson

The new DWP office, known as Fylde View, is home to around 3,000 staff and was named as the best new building in Lancashire at the prestigious North West Regional Construction Awards last September.

The seven-storey building opened last spring and was delivered by Blackpool Council, alongside nationwide developer Muse, and main contractor VINCI Building.

It was the third phase in Blackpool’s £350m redevelopment of the Talbot Gateway around the train station, which aims to bring over 8,000 professional workers and students into the town centre.