EMERGENCY repair work has been done to underpin an historic Cockermouth town centre building which is at risk of collapsing.

The base of the three-storey Old Courthouse on Main Street was seriously damaged during floods in October.

The fast flowing river eroded the stone section underneath it, leaving the wall bowing out on the riverside.

Residents and businesses were swiftly evacuated after the building was inspected by an Allerdale Council structural engineer.

A dive team worked over the weekend, placing two tons of bags filled with special cement underneath the property. The cement sets when water hits it.

The 192-year-old structure is owned by a Cockermouth woman.

Her son, Alan Jackson, said: "We wanted to do something to stop the building falling into the river.

"We are trying to keep it upright.

"There's been a lot of shoring up done.

"They've done the best they can in the circumstances.

"The river was pretty low which was good."

The family spent £12,000 doing the work and are grateful to Jennings for letting them use their land.

"Safety is paramount with a dive team and Jennings let us use their property to run the team from," said Mr Jackson.

Further work will hopefully be carried out later in the year, he said.

"It's not yet known what work will be carried out in the future.

"Hopefully Allerdale Borough Council and the Environment Agency will help us to save the building.

"We shall be liaising with them.

"The EA has done some temporary work nearby to protect the flood wall and will be doing further work to rebuild the banks in the spring.

"If they have a lot of big machinery there it would be good to combine the projects," said Mr Jackson.

The family had expected their insurance company to take action but the firm has now said it's not their responsibility as the damage was caused by river erosion.

The flood defence wall next to the Old Courthouse was bolstered recently.

The EA carried out the work after high waters damaged the embankment in front of it.