ENGINEERS today warned a former town centre cotton mill could collapse after part of the building crumbled and narrowly missed three pedestrians.

The 40ft high gable end of the building, in Cow Lane, Burnley, fell down at 2.30pm on Saturday and the road remained closed today.

Surveyors from Burnley Borough Council were trying to contact the owner of the converted mill to discuss the safety of the building, which now houses a number of self-contained industrial units.

If the authority fails to set up a meeting to discuss the building, officers will carry out any work required to make the area safe and bill the owners for any costs.

Structural engineers were called into assess the immediate impact of the collapse on Saturday and conducted an initial survey of the mill. A second more detailed survey was due to be carried out today.The three pedestrians had a narrow escape when the building collapsed, sending bricks, rubble and mortar tumbling 40ft into the road.

Police are now appealing for the three people and any other witnesses to come forward.

Sgt Tony Longton said: "A witness contacted police to say she saw three people walk underneath the building just before it collapsed. We would like those people to contact us."

Firefighters were immediately called to the scene to make the area safe and the road was closed off by police officers.

The only people in the area were those still working in the industrial units.

Tenant Gary Buckman was working in the building at the time. He was just a few feet away from the scene of the collapse.

He said: "I think frost affected the brick work and water that was frozen expanded and pushed the joints out.

"The warmer weather on Saturday meant that thawed out and the brick work was forced out."

Burnley Borough Council's district building surveyor Peter Holt carried out the preliminary inspection. He said the council were anxious to contact the building's owners to ensure it is safe.

He added: "Some of the walls are still unstable and there is a danger of further collapse. The road must remain closed unti the building is made safe."

"We urgently need to meet them to make an assessment, remove any danger and open up the road."

Mr Holt refused to speculate about the cause of the collapse.

He said: "There could be a number of causes, but it's too early to come to a conclusion until we have the chance to have a closer look in safer conditions."

Further down the street, a garage directly under the gable end that collapsed was closed because the owners were at Burnley Football Club's third round FA Cup clash with Canvey Island at Turf Moor. The business would normally be open for business on Saturday afternoon.

A spokesman for Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service said: "It was very much a stand-by situation.

"We attended the scene and made it safe, then it was just a matter of waiting for the engineers to arrive."