What to do With Loose Bricks Found in Chimney Breast All manner of questions and solutions to problems and issues surrounding the subject of brickwork, blockwork and stonework

[roberth]

I've just started removing the plaster from my chimney breast to expose the bricks and have found a number of cracked and, more worryingly, completely loose bricks (photo attached).

Can I just mortar these back in place, or is this indicative of the something more serious? I'm worried about the whole chimney breast collapsing (along with the chimney stack) if I do too much to it.

Thanks!
Rob