24-hour emergency · London
Emergency asbestos removal, 24 hours a day
If asbestos has been damaged or disturbed — a broken garage roof, a fire or flood, a drill through old Artex — we respond 24 hours a day across London and make the area safe. Disturbed asbestos is serious, but it is manageable. Call us, keep everyone away from it, and we will take it from there.
If it has just been disturbed
What to do right now
Stop, leave it where it is, and keep people and pets out of the area, then call us. Most accidental exposure comes from trying to clean up or move broken material. The single most useful thing you can do is nothing, until it has been made safe.
Do
- Stop any work immediately and leave the material untouched
- Keep everyone, including pets, out of the affected area
- Switch off any fans, heating, or air conditioning that could move dust around
- If you can do so from a safe distance, take a photo to show us
- Call us for free advice, day or night
Don't
- Don't sweep, hoover, or wipe up the dust or debris
- Don't break, snap, or move the material to "tidy it away"
- Don't put it in your bin or take it to the tip
- Don't hose it down hard or use power tools near it
- Don't panic — brief contact with undisturbed pieces is low-risk; it is repeated disturbance that matters
Emergency asbestos removal is a rapid, 24-hour response to asbestos that has been damaged or disturbed, where the priority is making the area safe quickly rather than waiting for a scheduled job. Where a planned removal starts with a survey and a quote, an emergency starts with containment: stopping the spread of fibres, isolating the area, and then removing or securing the material.
We cover London from our base on Evelyn Street in Deptford, and we answer the phone around the clock — not an answering machine. This page explains when to call, what we do when we arrive, and how we handle the parts of the job that are ours and the parts that legally belong to a licensed contractor.
When to call us
The emergencies we deal with
Fire & smoke damage
Heat and water can shatter old asbestos materials. We make fire-damaged buildings safe so others can begin work.
Flood & water damage
Water-soaked asbestos board and insulation degrade fast. We remove and contain materials damaged by leaks and flooding.
Storm & wind damage
High winds lift and crack asbestos garage roofs and cement sheets. We secure and replace storm-damaged roofs.
Accidental breakage
A drill through textured coating, a foot through a ceiling, a cracked sheet — we contain the spot and remove what was disturbed.
DIY gone wrong
Started a job and realised too late it was asbestos? Stop and call. We make it safe and finish it properly.
Builders hitting asbestos
Work has stopped because a contractor uncovered asbestos. We attend fast so the site can reopen.
Vandalism, break-ins, and fly-tipped asbestos too. If a material you think is asbestos has been disturbed, call and describe it — we will tell you what to do.
Our response
How an emergency call-out runs
Call, any time
Tell us what has happened and what the material looks like. We give you immediate advice to limit the risk while we are on our way.
Rapid attendance
We get to you as quickly as we can, day or night, and assess what has been disturbed and how far it has spread.
Contain & make safe
The first priority is stopping the spread: we isolate the area, suppress dust, and secure the material so it is no longer a live risk.
Remove or secure
We remove non-licensed material and dispose of it correctly. Where the law requires a licensed contractor, we secure it and bring one in.
Why call Diamond in an emergency
In an emergency, two things matter: how quickly someone competent arrives, and whether they are honest about what they can and cannot do. We are set up for both.
- A real 24-hour line. You reach us directly, around the clock, and get advice straight away — not a message left for the morning.
- Local to South-East London. Based on Evelyn Street in Deptford, we cover SE London and the wider city, so we can get to you quickly.
- Accredited and insured. UKATA-trained operatives, UKAS-accredited sample analysis, and full public liability cover — even at 2am.
- Honest about scope. We make any disturbed area safe, but we will tell you plainly when removal needs a licensed contractor rather than pretending otherwise.
Making safe vs full removal
In an emergency, our first job is always to make the area safe — and that applies whatever the material is. From there, we remove non-licensed materials — things like cement sheets, garage roofs, floor tiles, and textured coatings — ourselves and dispose of them correctly.
Some higher-risk materials — such as sprayed coatings, pipe and boiler lagging, and most asbestos insulating board — must legally be removed by a licensed contractor. If that is what has been disturbed, we secure it, stop it spreading, and bring in a contractor who is licensed for it, so the emergency is handled without anyone working outside the law. More on licensable work →
Cost
What an emergency call-out costs
We are upfront about price even under pressure, and we confirm the cost before we start the chargeable work. The main factors:
For non-urgent jobs, see our full guide to how much asbestos removal costs in London, or .
Common questions
Emergency call-outs, answered
Disturbed asbestos? Call us now.
We answer 24 hours a day, across London. Tell us what has happened and we will give you immediate advice and get to you as fast as we can.