AN emergency evacuation has taken place of an East Lancashire police station - amid safety concerns for a four-storey car park.

Contractors are said to have sounded the alarm over the condition of Pendle Rise in Nelson.

And police chiefs have confirmed that their station in Broadway, located directly underneath the structure, has been cleared.

It is understood that the concerns centred on a leaning outside wall, positioned between the car park and police station.

All businesses on Railway Road have been evacuated and Nelson Bus Station is closed. Buses are stopping outside Pendle Wavelenghts. Trains are running as normal.

Work on the demolition of the car park, ahead of an anticipated new McDonald's restaurant, is understood to have only just resumed after being put on ice for several weeks.

A Lancashire Police spokesman said: "We were called around 7am today by site contractors demolishing a car park next to the police station.

"The contractors have raised safety concerns about the structure of the car park and the station has been evacuated as a precaution.

"Broadway has been closed and officers from Lancashire Fire and Rescue and Lancashire County Council are at the scene."

The Lancashire Telegraph understands that around a dozen officers are still based at the police station, which still has a front counter for enquiries.

Neighbourhood officers and the early action team have been relocated temporarily to Colne police station.

The police station should be closed for the rest of the day.

At around 5pm on Tuesday the police issued a statement to say Broadway would remain closed overnight but all other roads had reopened.