THE owner of a Grade II*-listed building has described his devastation after it partially collapsed over the weekend

The historic front of The Monal, a former church and restaurant transformed into a wedding venue in Cleckheaton, suffered damage in the worrying incident.

The eye-catching building and its detailed facade has been part of the area’s landscape since the 1850s.

The building was originally a United Reform church and formerly operated as the much-loved Aakash Restaurant.

After the restaurant’s closure, the building lay empty for more than two years.

It was taken on by father and son duo Imran and Akbar Ali and transformed into a stunning wedding venue.

But on Saturday, the front of the building partially collapsed and narrowly missed two pedestrians who were walking nearby.

Akbar described the situation as “devastating”.

“We put a lot of love and hard work into the place to turn it around,” he said.

“The main thing for me is thank God no one’s been hurt. Everyone’s fine. There was a lucky escape of two people. The main thing is the community and it’s always been the community for us from the start.

“Thank God no one’s been hurt, and the two people that were walking past, I’m in contact with one of them, and I’ve gone to see him and dropped some gifts off, and he’s become family now for me.

“They’ve done something good in life, and it’s payback for them.”

When asked what the cause is believed to be, Akbar said: “It’s just sheer bad luck. The building’s been up for 170 years, and it’s just one of those unfortunate things where it’s sheer bad luck.

“We’ll be up and running in another two or three days, then it’s just waiting to get the top half done again. We’ll be back in business in a few days.”

Looking to the future, Akbar said they plan to “make it back to what it was” and “bring it back together”.

A spokesperson for Historic England, the body which works to protect and list historic buildings, described the situation as “very sad”.

The spokesperson said: “We are very sad to hear about the collapse of part of the Grade II*-listed former Providence Place United Reform Church in Cleckheaton.

“We will be offering support and advice to the owners and the local Council with assessing the damage and considering the next steps for the building’s future.”

According to Historic England, the Grade II*-listed building was originally built as a United Reformed Church by Lockwood and Mawson of Bradford, between 1857 and 1859.

The two-storey former Providence Place church was first listed in 1982.