The Health and Safety Executive have begun enquiries after a woman was seriously injured by a falling chimney.
The incident happened on Ocean Road in South Shields on Saturday afternoon.
The casualty was taken to the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) in Newcastle by ambulance. She remains in hospital and her condition has been described as "stable".
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A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) spokeswoman said: “We are aware of this incident and making initial enquiries.”
A local business owner, who witnessed the incident said he saw the injured woman lying unconscious on the pavement.
The man, who asked not to be named, said: "It was really really bad. There was blood everywhere. It was really scary. I've no idea what's happened to that person, I just hope she's going to be ok."
The man believes the woman had just been walking past the building when she was struck and knocked out.
"She was just walking past and around 10 or 15 bricks came from the chimney," he continued. "She was unconscious, then she woke up for a couple of seconds then the ambulance came. Her face had bruises everywhere.
"It was really upsetting for every body."
The witness said he believed the woman was in her early fifties and that someone had told him she was a grandmother.
A section of Ocean Road was closed for more than four hours while the emergency services dealt with the incident.
A spokeswoman for South Tyneside Council said: “The council's on-call surveyor attended the site on Saturday and worked with the emergency services and our cleansing team to deal with the incident. The partially collapsed chimney was taken down to a safe level by Tyne and Wear Fire & Rescue Service and the street cleansed to allow it to be reopened.”
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