ELDERLY residents had a lucky escape when part of a car park roof collapsed at a newly-built retirement home complex in Basingstoke.

An investigation has been launched after the car park ceiling gave way at Lady Susan Court, in New Road, sending a huge pile of debris plummeting to the ground.

No-one was hurt, but fallen beams, twisted metal rods and mountains of soft fibreglass insulation left several vehicles stranded in the ground-floor car park located directly underneath homes at the assisted living complex, which only officially opened in July.

Yesterday, a spokesman for developer McCarthy & Stone insisted the rest of building was safe as experts probed the cause of the incident and worked to replace the wrecked roof.

The collapse, which took place at 7.30am on Tuesday, is being put down to failings in the acoustic cladding fittings.

No vehicles were damaged but the impact disrupted the building’s electrical supply, putting the lifts out of action.

An 82-year-old woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “It’s quite unnerving. It makes you think about the quality of the place, and you worry if your ceiling might fall down.

“It isn’t encouraging and it’s been an inconvenience for people who have got cars.”

Another resident said his wife was unable to use her car to attend a doctor’s appointment, and added: “It’s inconvenienced us, but it is one of those things.”

But another woman said: “It’s only thermal stuff coming down. It isn’t anything to do with the structure of the building.”

The spokesman for McCarthy & Stone apologised for the inconvenience, and said: “The incident is not in any way related to any structural issue with the building.

“As a precautionary measure, where the same design has been used in other areas of the car park, this will be taken down over the next few days and replaced with a different form of insulation.”

He added that construction and health and safety teams are liaising with home owners on the progress of the work.