FOUR people escaped “with their lives” after part of a mill roof collapsed.

Girders, cast iron supports and sections of the glass roof fells suddenly at Susan Mill, Spa Street, Burnley, which houses a number of businesses.

Around 10 square metres of the roof collapsed, which firefighters said affected the structure of the whole building.

Customers accessing a car they had placed in storage space were in the building when the collapse happened on Friday.

Fire crews initially feared children could be among the rubble.

The building, which remains too unsafe to enter, was examined from an aerial ladder platform before search dogs were sent in.

One man came within inches of being crushed by a girder, which destroyed the car he had been sitting in moments before.

Burnley watch manager Mark Woodward said the man had had only seconds to escape through a window.

He said: “He is lucky to be alive. They all are.

"Miraculously he managed to escape out of a window, but surveying the scene afterwards, you can’t see how he managed it.

“Three other people had also managed to get themselves out without a scratch, even though tonnes of roof had collapsed in.”