A DEPARTMENT store has been forced to close off a whole floor after 'part of a ceiling fell through'.

Damage caused by repair work at the Portland Walk car park in Barrow led to rainwater leaking through holes of the roof of Debenhams.

Yesterday, tape was put up at the foot of the escalators in the high street store to stop shoppers reaching the first floor.

Shopper Tracey Pennington said she went into the store on Monday and could see the racks of shoes shaking due to the vibrations from the work on the car park.

She said: “It was really scary. We could hear things falling down from the roof.

“Then I went in to the shop on Thursday and a member of staff told me the ceiling had fallen in and the top floor had flooded.”

Last August Barrow Council, which owns the majority of the car park but leases some of it, was served with a 18-point repair notice to stop the roof leaking into shops and to clear ‘plant growth, rubbish, debris and graffiti'.

The issue has come to the fore as the clock is ticking on the council’s 25-year lease.

The agreement obliges the council to return the car park and ramp to ‘good repair’ before the lease ends.

Barrow council leader Ann Thomson said the authority was doing ‘everything it can’ to resolve the situation.

“We’ve been onsite with contractors to inspect the situation and find the fault," she said.

“We’re on top of the situation and want to make sure it doesn’t happen again as we know this is an inconvenience for both staff and shoppers.

“This is an eight week project and we don’t want the contractors to have to repeatedly stop working due to this issue."

A Debenhams spokesman said: “Our Barrow store has suffered some damage from the building works in the neighbouring carpark.

“Fortunately no-one was hurt but for safety reasons we have closed the top floor of the store while repairs are being carried out.

“Thanks to our colleagues’ hard work, the store is open for business and we hope the top floor will be able to reopen for weekend trading so that our customers can enjoy the full benefit of our Bank Holiday Spectacular event.”