Dudley bowling alley reopening delayed after flood damage
A bowling alley will remain shut until next week after its ceiling collapsed due to heavy rain.
Families had fled for safety as part of the ceiling came down at Tenpin Bowling, at Castlegate Park, in Dudley, on Tuesday.
Hundreds of people were forced to leave the building as water poured through the roof – after torrential rain led to flooding across the Black Country and Staffordshire.
WATCH: Part of roof collapses at bowling alley
Footage courtesy of Rhys Palmer
Bosses at Dudley Tenpin had hoped to re-open in time for this weekend, but have since revealed that repair work at the building is taking longer than planned.
Their website states they hope to re-open by next Wednesday.
A Tenpin Bowling spokesman told the Express & Star: "We are aiming to re-open the Dudley Bowl next week as soon as we can.
"We were previously hoping to reopen at the weekend, however, it is taking a bit longer than we thought, and we are not rushing the process as customer safety is paramount to us.
"We can only apologise if this has caused an inconvenience for any of our customers."
Eyewitness Emily Palmer was rushed out of the 22-lane bowling alley with her family just after 2.30pm on Tuesday.
She said to the Express & Star at the time: "The place was rammed with families – because of the school summer holidays there was lots of young kids – but no one knew which way to turn.
"Someone shouted 'The ceiling's coming down' and everyone started running.
"No one knew what parts of the roof were coming in.
"It was scary."
Fleeing customers were told they would be refunded, Mrs Palmer said.
