Sharon Boland, 46, was recording the collapse in Hockley, Birmingham, on Sunday when she captured the footage of the fleeing demolition workers.

The 24-second long video starts with Cornwall Tower – an eight-storey block of flats – crumbling to the floor in just five seconds.

It then captures the moment four workers turn and run towards the camera as they realise the thick dust cloud is billowing towards them.

Members of the public watching the demolition can be heard laughing at the men as one female onlooker says: “Look at them running”.

Ms Boland, who works as a dinner lady and lives in Sheldon, Birmingham, said the workers must have misjudged the wind direction when they set off the controlled explosion.

She said: “We went there to watch because my husband works for the demolition group as a machine driver.

“In the video you can see the pick-up vehicle and workmen, that’s where the button was, they pressed it at 9.10am.

“There is always loads of dust but the wind happened to be blowing our way.

“The workers just started running when they saw the dust cloud coming. It was hilarious, everyone around us was laughing at them.”

She said the workers had warned them about a possible dust cloud – but even they hadn’t expected it to be so thick and strong.

“I tried to get the video as long as I could before the dust reached us. We just turned our backs but the kids ran and were screaming,” she said. “It looked funny when I watched the video back. One of the workers even jumped into his car but it all cleared within seconds because of the wind.”

Billy Young, contracts manager for DSM Demolition Group, which carried out the controlled explosion, admitted the dust cloud had surprised his team.

He said: “We were caught out a little bit by the high wind which was blowing down Heaton Street and four of us including myself ran away as it descended on us.

“However, there was never any risk to the safety of the public.”

Cornwall Tower is one of eight tower blocks earmarked for demolition as part of a Birmingham City Council £26 million housing programme.