A woman who was injured after concrete fell through the ceiling in an underground car park has said it was an “accident waiting to happen” and claims it could have resulted in a death.
Police were called to Queens Road in Wimbledon just before 2.55pm on August 31 when a car on the first floor of the four-storey Centre Court car park was hit by debris.
The woman, who was inside the car, has described the incident as “absolutely horrific” and is now suffering from nightmares and further pain.
Centre Court has explained that the concrete came from the demolition of a wall on the floor above, which fell through a void in the ceiling.
The woman involved, who would like to be kept anonymous, told The Wimbledon Times that her windscreen smashed after a piece of concrete hit the driver’s side.
She then drove forwards away from the area to avoid a larger amount of debris which fell from the roof soon later.
She believes the accident could have been far worse if she remained where she was.
The woman explained: “I'll be honest, it was absolutely horrific.
“The first piece of concrete hit my windshield and the bonnet, and I just thought I can't stay here so I drove forward.
“My instinct was to get the hell away from where these debris were falling and not long after that – well you can see from the picture.
“A tonne just came down from the ceiling.
“If I had hung around the rest of it could have gone straight to my windshield.
“It's just probably one of the most terrifying things that's ever happened to me.”
The woman said that she could hear building work going on above before the incident happened.
Afterwards, two security guards attended when a witness called for people in the Centre Court office to come down through a system in the car park.
The woman, who is local to the area and regularly visits the shopping centre, said: “We could be talking about a death here easily with people walking around.
“One of the security guards went over to where the concrete have fallen and picked it up to put it to one side and I shouted to him and said ‘don't be stupid, don't stand under there’.
“The other guy had a radio on him and called above to the builders to stop.
“Then the rest of the debris fell down which was quite quick after the first lot.”
She said that the area was then closed off with cones by the centre.
The woman involved called the emergency services and initially asked dispatchers for police – but the ambulance service and fire brigade were also sent.
A spokesperson for Centre Court said that “the area was promptly deemed safe for the general public following an assessment by the London Fire Brigade” and was given the go ahead to reopen from 5pm.
They added that an internal review had been completed to avoid similar incidents happening in the future.
At approximately 4:30pm on the day of the incident, people were allowed to collect their cars and exit the car park, and Centre Court did not let other people in until 6am the day after.
While the injured woman was only treated at the scene for shock, she also took herself to A&E the following day as she was in pain.
She added: “I think when I had braced myself when it was coming towards me, I push myself back and next day I woke up with back pain.
“I haven't gone to work because for my job I am standing all the time.
“So my lower back, my right shoulder and neck is sore.
“I also spoke to my GP who prescribed some sleeping tablets for me because I have also not been able to sleep.
“I've been having nightmares about it.”
A health and safety inspector visited the car park the day after the incident, and work is currently not continuing within that small area while an ongoing investigation is carried out.
A spokesperson for Centre Court described the incident as an “anomaly” which has occurred after measures such as various risk assessments and safety checks were put in place.
The woman injured in the incident said: “I don't think they should have opened it so quickly.
“I feel that for this to happen there's obviously negligence on some part – something has been missed.
“I just think it was an accident waiting to happen.
“Somebody should have made sure that that area was safe for public use.
“I think these refurbishments are going to continue and they need to make sure that those checks are in place that it is sound and safe for everybody.
“I don’t want anyone else to go through what I have been through.”
A spokesperson for Centre Court said: “On Wednesday 31st of August there was a rare incident in involving falling debris in a small area of the car park.
"The emergency services attended and the area was promptly deemed safe for the general public following an assessment by the London Fire Brigade.
"A comprehensive internal review has been completed to prevent any similar event happening in the future.”
The building contractors working on Centre Court have been approached for comment.
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