Bristol council evacuates hundreds of people from unsafe tower block

Council declares major incident at 65-year-old Barton House after survey finds three flats pose structural risk

Hundreds of people have been evacuated from a 65-year-old tower block in Bristol after a major structural risk was discovered, with some families being put up in emergency shelters.

About 400 people - roughly 100 of them children - were told to leave Barton House in Barton Hill on the edge of the city centre. The city council declared a major incident, a mechanism that makes it easier to get help from outside organisations, and emergency services were put on alert as a precaution.