A HOUSING office is being shut down at short notice after it was deemed unsafe for customers and staff.

Brighton and Hove City Council has taken the decision to close its housing office in Oxford Street, Brighton, by the end of this week over health and safety concerns.

Angry councillors are outraged that the decision was taken without consulting them and have questioned how the building was allowed to fall into such disrepair.

The closure comes after a structural survey revealed problems with the building’s roof and brickwork and that windows facing into the street and nearby bus stop were at risk of falling out.

The study found wet weather had caused a major deterioration in the state of the building over the past few weeks.

Residents with housing enquiries will now have to use offices in Lavender Street, Brighton, Portslade Town Hall or Whitehawk Community Hub.

Councillors were told in an email last night that the decision was taken after a verbal report from the council’s health and safety officer that the building presented an “immediate danger”.

It was also revealed that discussions regarding the future of the site had been ongoing for more than a year with proposals being worked up by officers and outside partners.

The council said every effort has been made to contact residents to inform them about the closure and staff will be relocated to the housing office in Lavender Street.

The property was bought by Brighton Borough Council for £500,000 and could now be sold for redevelopment as offices or housing.

Housing committee member Mary Mears said: “How has this building been allowed to fall into this state of disrepair?

“This was not discussed at our most recent housing committee. We are being bypassed and issues are not coming to committee like they should be and instead officers are taking more and more decisions under delegated powers.”

Councillor Mears said that part of the justification for closing the Selsfield Drive housing office in March was that residents could use the Oxford Street offices instead.

Fellow Conservative councillor Dawn Barnett said: “It’s absolutely disgraceful.

“If it’s in such a bad state of disrepair they should have done something about it sooner.

“If it’s unsafe why not shut it now? Why didn’t they board up the windows immediately on Wednesday if they are so dangerous?”

“I feel sorry for those residents from Moulsecoomb who will now have to go to the Kemp Town offices.

“It will take them two buses to get there because not everybody is able to pay online.”