Houses Demolished Before they Drop 100 feet Down
A row of bungalows is now teetering on the edge of a cliff after a staggering 20ft of land has fallen away leaving the houses unsafe to live in.
Bulldozers have moved in this week to begin demolition work on two of the condemned houses while the National Trust who own the surrounding land are investigating why the land has slipped.
Three more of the properties overlooking Cayton Bay, near Scarborough have also been earmarked as within the immediate danger zone, and if the mysterious landslip continues, they will join the other homes at the bottom of the cliff or be demolished.
The National Trust believes the fault could be due to natural drainage and water seepage from newly developed land that is nearby. They have ruled out the connection of coastal erosion which is the more common problem and reason of landslips.
Families have been devastated to watch their land falling 100ft down the cliff and were told to evacuate before their homes also vanished in the landslide.
Unsure if Losses will be Met By Insurance Companies
Owners of the condemned houses are unsure as of yet if their insurance companies will cover the costs of their losses due to the unusual circumstances of the cause. One family were told by their insurers to move out.
Homeowners Kevin and Mary Lloyd purchased their detached house 17 years ago and had to remove their possessions and get out only hours after Kevin had returned home after having a hip replacement operation.
Moya Green, 72 and her husband John, 73 have lived in their home for 28 years and Mrs Green said “It’s extremely worrying. The wood below used to be dry with a little stream and suddenly it has become a lake.”
Spokesman for the National Trust, Bob Dicker said that engineers were working on finding the source of the water that has caused the slip. He added “What we don’t know is where the water is coming from and what sources there are in the immediate area”.
The land slippage has been in ‘fits and starts’ but over the last two to three months there has been significant activity to the point that a lot of the properties will inevitably be lost over the edge into the North Sea.
