A building firm has apologised after damage was caused to a housing estate in Widnes.
High winds sent bins tumbling, roof tiles flying, uprooted trees and smashed car windows with debris across an area centred on the intersection of Camberwell Park Road, Kensington Close and Greenwich Avenue on Wednesday, October 20.
Brickwork fence posts were also damaged when the 'mini -tornado' hit, one fell and smashed a car window.
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Photographs of the aftermath appeared to show the posts consisted of cross sections of bricks around a central concrete or cement filler column, broken by the strength of the wind.
The smashed posts were one of the most visually dramatic aspects of the aftermath, prompting comments questioning the quality of the fence posts or “walls” as they were sometimes referred to.
One comment on Twitter said: “Why is there not steel reinforcement in these tall pillars that are acting like masts with sails between them?”
Another said: “Badly built” and a third added: “Lego Walls are stronger”.
The housing estate was built in the 2000s by George Wimpey NW Ltd, which gained reserved matters planning permission in 2003 - meaning some issues could be rubber-stamped at a later date - and which went on to merge with Taylor Woodrow in 2007 to form Taylor Wimpey.
Following last week’s “mini-tornado”, a Taylor Wimpey spokesperson told the ECHO the development complied with the regulations of the day.
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She said: “We are sorry to hear of the damage caused during recent extreme weather.
"The homes on the development were built over 15 years ago and in accordance with building regulations at the time."
It remains unclear if the fence posts would comply with The Building Regulations 2010 if they were built today, with the regulations’ Section A3 stating: “The building shall be constructed so that in the event of an accident the building will not suffer collapse to an extent disproportionate to the cause."
According to Historic England, the regulations only apply to “new work”, i.e. after the 2010 legislation came into force and “there is no general requirement to upgrade all existing buildings to meet these standards”.
