Workmen will have to re-construct a landmark building on the edge of moorland after high winds toppled the building.

Carr Bottom Filter Station, on Green Lane in Burley Woodhead, has fallen down after months of work to underpin the structure as it is turned into a family home.

Permission was granted to convert the hillside property in 2004 after the building was sold by Yorkshire Water.

Further plans for a three-bedroom house with an extension were approved in 2006, with modifications granted two years ago.

Passer-by Steve Webb, who sent in the photograph of the collapsed building, said he had concerns before it fell down.

“The whole structure appeared very precarious,” he said.

Peter Gamble, of Ilkley-based architects Think Design, which is leading the project, said the Met Office had confirmed there had been winds of more than 70mph on the day it blew over.

“It was nothing deliberate,” he said. “We went to great lengths to underpin that building as part of the planning approval.

“We have been underpinning through the worst weather conditions in the worst winter.”

New planning permission will now have to be obtained.

Owner Justin Whitston, from Ilkley, said: “We are continuing the building and the building will appear exactly as it was. We have tried to keep as much of the materials which have fallen down as we can.”