London Fashion Week show goes on... despite builder falling through roof above catwalk

Fashion designers decided to continue with a catwalk show at London Fashion Week despite a builder falling through the roof.

The Fashion East show in Gray's Inn Road carried on after the worker from a nearby building site fell about 50ft through a corrugated glass roof this afternoon.

The man, believed to be in his 30s, was taken to the Royal London hospital with back injuries, the London Ambulance Service said.

Shocked witnesses saw the victim hit his head on scaffolding behind the catwalk runway.

Zoe Hellewell, fashion blogger from Islington, told the Standard: "It was a bit of a shock. You do not go to a fashion show and expect to see that. The people I was sat with were shrieking and gasping."

She added she was "upset" that the show was allowed to carry on.

She said: "To be honest I'm pretty upset that the show carried on going. It was unfortunate, but we all saw the man fall. They could have stopped.

"It was almost as if it didn't happen. We all just expected a few minutes in between but it just carried on."

A spokeswoman for Topshop, which organised the show on behalf of Fashion East, said the man was treated at the scene.

Commenting on the decision to carry on with the show after the accident, she said: "With other shows that we have it would be just one show - but this was three shows in one. It would have been quite difficult to interrupt it. The important thing is he was treated at the scene."

The Health and Safety Executive, which regulates workplace safety, said the matter was likely to be investigated by the local authority and it had not been asked to launch a formal investigation.