Urgent repair work is being carried out on the derelict Futurist Cinema after an inspection showed it is in danger of collapse.

A cordon was placed around the site on Friday evening (15 April) with the pavement around the much-loved landmark was closed off.

Building safety inspectors have discovered that the condition of the building, which is due to demolished at part of the £35 million Lime Street regeneration scheme, has deteriorated with internal collapse, leaning walls and a high risk that cladding tiles may fall off.

The inspectors have issued Liverpool City Council with a ‘Section 77’ legal notice giving the authority five days to make the structure completely safe.

Mark Kitts, assistant director of regeneration, says: “The Futurist has been deteriorating for a very long time and when we bought the site a couple of years ago it was already pretty much beyond repair.

“Sadly we were unable to find a way of saving it as part of the regeneration proposals for Lime Street, and we are now at the stage where it has become a danger to public safety.

“The legal notice requires us to take action within five days, which is why we are moving quickly to make the area around it safe before starting to deconstruct the parts of the structure that are unsafe.”

SAVE Britain’s Heritage, a heritage group which launched a bid to save the building last year, has said it is “extremely concerned about the immediate future” of the Futurist.

Marcus Binney, president of SAVE Britain’s Heritage, says: “We are very alarmed by what could be a repeat of the Firestone Factory – the notorious 1970s case of a historic art deco building on the outskirts of London that was demolished over a bank holiday weekend by its owners the day before it was due to be listed and protected.

“While it is right to take precautionary measures if necessary, this should be to hold the building up, not demolish it.”

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