Another landslide in Kings Mills after heavy rain

The road was shut for a fortnight at the beginning of the month after the five-metre high wall of the former Curle’s Garden Centre site gave way and blocked the carriageway in both directions.

Property owner Dudley Eddy said yesterday that the ongoing saga of his wall was set to continue.

‘With all this rain what can you do? We actually took soil away on Tuesday but on Wednesday morning a metre of soil had collapsed back on to the road,’ he said.

The island has had almost 15cm of rain this month so far, almost 6cm more than the monthly average for January. Over 33.3mm fell on Wednesday alone, causing localised flash flooding across the island.

Signs have been put out in Kings Mills to warn drivers about the hazard.

‘We don’t want to inflict temporary traffic lights on drivers so we are asking everyone to be sensible,’ Mr Eddy said.

‘Take it in turns and drive with caution. Once it dries out a bit we can remove the soil and remove the signs.’

Mr Eddy said that works to fully reinstate the wall had now been signed off by his insurers and were out to tender. Once agreed repairs to mend the wall would probably take around three months and would likely start over the summer.

In the meantime he was adding steel supports and wooden shuttering on Monday at his own expense to stop any further earth collapsing on to the road.

‘I want to say a big thank you to Fusion Engineering,’ he said.

‘They have dropped everything to help us in super quick time.’

Mr Eddy said he also had nothing but praise for the help and advice he has had from Traffic & Highway Services since the wall collapsed.

‘They have been exceptional,’ he said.

‘Super quick with getting signs out, and quick to contact me.’