The devastating collapse of the City Gates Christian centre has been documented in a series of pictures which show the mangled wreckage and a now useless flight of stairs.

The five-storey building in Clements Road, Ilford crashed to the ground at just before 4.30pm yesterday.

Remarkably the only injury was to a woman who suffered a twisted ankle.

To view a gallery of pictures showing the collapsed building both from street-level and above-ground, click on the gallery link at the top right of this page.

A number of buildings in Clements Road remain closed today including the Ilford Travelodge, the Virgin Active gym, Redbridge CVS in the Forest House building and Redbridge Council’s housing advice centre and payments and benefits office.

Motorists will have to wait until further notice to return to their vehicles in the Britannia car park and the Redbridge Town Hall car park is also closed.

The steel frame of what remains of the collapsed City Gates Christian centre will be demolished.

A crane which hangs over the collapsed building will also be dismantled.

Contractors Ashe Construction and Health and Safety Executive officers are both at the scene today.

Ashe Construction’s business development director Andrew Morris said “I apologise for the disruption and I ask people to bear with us as we formulate a recovery plan.

“Work stopped at the site about 15 to 20 minutes before [the collapse].

“Thankfully most of the guys had left the site. A few were left within the site set up but no one was injured.”

He said it was not unusual for staff to have clocked off just after 4pm because of the reduced light levels.

He added: “This type of thing doesn’t normally happen to us. We’re as shocked as everyone else.

“It would be inappropriate to speculate on what caused the collapse.”

Eyewitnesses have said it was a “miracle” no one was killed following the collapse of the building.

All 22 workers on site were quickly accounted for following the collapse and no one was found inside the wreckage.

A man who said he worked on the site described it as a “well run and organised site with a good safety record”.

Fifteen bus routes are being diverted following the incident.

A Transport for London spokesman said: “The bus routes on diversion around Clements Road are the 25, 86, 123, 128, 145, 147, 150, 167, 169, 179, 296, 364, 366, 462 and the W19.”

Did you witnessed what happened in Clements Road? Do you have pictures or video from the scene? Call us on 020 8477 3806, email zjan.shirinian@archant.co.uk or Tweet us @ilfordrecorder.