The Holocaust Memorial Day service at East London Central Synagogue has been cancelled after the shul ceiling collapsed on Friday.

Congregants turned up at the Nelson Street building in Whitechapel on Shabbat unaware of the damage. The service could not take place as the building was deemed unsafe.

Although saddened at having to cancel the HMD service, which the Tower Hamlets Mayor was due to attend, synagogue president Leon Silver said his priority was "the emergency we’re having to cope with.

“I was shocked when I arrived to find the aisle strewn with broken wood and plaster where cornices came crashing down. But thank goodness no one was inside the building when the ceiling fell down.”

Property managers from the Federation of Synagogues on Monday inspected the 97-year-old building, with its leaking roof. Surveyors were also due to assess the damage.

Tower Hamlets Interfaith Forum is hoping to arrange a makeshift HMD commemoration in the area.

“There is wide support for the Jewish community and their East End heritage," said its chairman, Rector Alan Green. 

“We can’t replicate the annual Holocaust memorial, but can come together to express solidarity.”

Messages of support for the shul have been relayed from other faith communities, including churches and the Buddhist centre in Bethnal Green.