Part of the harbour wall in Weymouth has collapsed

A section opposite the former council offices site on North Quay has fallen away. The green and white railings can be seen suspended in mid-air as the wall beneath sags into the water.

This section of the harbour wall had been scheduled to be replaced and barriers were in place blocking a section of the footpath.

However as of this morning pedestrian access has been entirely blocked off on this side following the collapse - understood to have happened at the weekend.

Part of the pavement on the ex-council offices side has been opened.

As part of the redevelopment of the area, much-needed repairs to the harbour wall commenced at the end of last year with work being carried out by the same contactors working on the council offices demolition.

The footpath has been closed (Image: Cristiano Magaglio)

Engineers are on site as Dorset Council looks to shore up the affected area and prevent further collapses before assessing the damage.

Dorset Council say that access to the marina is unaffected and, due to the booms already in place for the repair works, the site is already contained.

The railings are being held up in mid-air (Image: Cristiano Magaglio)

Read more: North Quay demolition and harbour wall repairs

A spokesperson for Dorset Council said: "We can confirm that a short section of the wall has failed. This was identified as a risk and was due for remedial work as part of construction. The reason the work is being undertaken in the first place is because the walls around this end of the harbour are in poor condition and are at the end of their life.

"Our engineers and contractors are currently on-site and are managing the situation. Our priority is to shore up the affected area and prevent further movement, it's too early to say what the longer-term remedial work might entail.

"We will provide an update further once the engineers have properly assessed this part of the wall on what the next steps might be. This may not be until later this week."

As previously reported, the railings on this 235-metre section in front of the now-demolished former council offices at North Quay are set to be removed, refurbished, moved back slightly and replaced. 

The work will include the addition of stone capping to the harbour wall which will reduce the risk of water over-topping the structure.

£1.5 million of the Levelling up Fund has been allocated to the repairs that will see necessary wall replacement, repair and maintenance for the stretch.

The work on the wall had been expected to be completed by spring this year.