Bangor High Street building demolition work 'will take weeks'

Image caption, The fire in December 2019 was in a flat above Japanese restaurant Noodle One

Works to demolish buildings on a fire-hit high street are to start.

High Street in Bangor is set to be shut to traffic for two months from Monday so two buildings damaged by a blaze in a flat above a Japanese restaurant in December 2019 can be knocked down.

Politicians have called for businesses, already hit by Covid, to be given financial relief as the road is due to be closed to traffic until Easter.

Gwynedd council said the demolition work will take about 13 weeks.

The council's head of environment Dafydd Wyn Williams said he hoped the road would re-open "as soon as possible".

Image caption, The flat was empty when the fire happened and no-one is reported to have been hurt

The first seven weeks of the project - starting on Monday - will be strengthening the road to support the crane needed to demolish the buildings.

Only then can the actual demolition work begin - and that is then expected to take about six weeks.

"We fully acknowledge the impact and disruption this situation has caused to local residents and traders," Mr Williams said:

Engineers EWP said the condition of the fire-damaged buildings, coupled with the poor ground conditions and congested services, has "necessitated significant investigation and risk mitigation measures to be put in place".