Full Report: Demolition in Scarborough
Watch the full report from Claire Montgomery below.
Live updates
The Knipe Point landslip - what can be done now?
Malcolm Pirks - the spokesman for the Knipe Point Residents' Association - spoke to ITV News about what action can now be taken after the demolition of the homes at Scarborough.
Advertisement
Demolition of Scarborough homes is "very upsetting"
Jean Lupton, one of the residents at Knipe Point, says that the demolition of homes today is "very upsetting", particularly after a similar landslip and demolition work had to be carried out five years ago at the site.
Work continues on Knipe Point demolition
Demolition work begins in Scarborough
The digger moves in to start demolition work on four houses at Knipe Point in Scarborough. Contractors say it will probably take a couple of days to complete the work. There are more than fifty houses on the estate.
Malcolm Pirks from the Knipe Point Residents' Association said: "I feel very sad really, because when you can look around you, you can imagine that a large majority of the residents are pensioners. I must think how they feel today, not knowing whether they are going to be next."
Mr Pirks believes a number of residents may only receive half the value of their properties from insurance companies. That will be in the region of seven thousand pounds.
Demolition work is due to start on homes left dangerously close to the edge of a cliff after a landslip. Four properties in Scarborough are affected. Another three homes had to be pulled down in 2008.
Knipe Point meeting
Scarborough Council will be discussing funding for the relocation of residents at Knipe Point today.
The residents are moving after a landslip put their homes dangerously close to the cliff edge.
Four properties are at are at risk of sliding into the sea and are likely to be demolished.
Following bad weather in January, the properties, which are currently unoccupied, are now just a few metres away from the edge of the same active landslide, which four and a half years ago led to the loss of three bungalows.
Advertisement
Knipe Point: Yorkshire Water say they are "not to blame"
Yorkshire Water say their investigation into a landslip at Knipe Point in Scarborough show they are "not to blame".
Four properties are at are at risk of sliding into the sea and will probably have to demolished.
Council officials have been trying to assess the stability of the immediate area to establish what action needs to be taken.
We have every sympathy with residents of Knipe Point and the situationthey’re facing following the recent land slippage.In an open report we received recently, a number of accusations were madeabout us, including water appearing from the cliff at Knipe Point was coming from our pipe which serves the McCain’s factory. It was alleged that a leak from this pipe was the main cause of the cliff’s instability.
We weren’t able to immediately respond to these allegations until we’d carried out our own investigation.
Now this is done, we’d like to reassure everyone concerned that our investigations show that our pipe is not to blame in any way for the recent land slippage.
– Yorkshire WaterThe report states water stopped coming out of the cliff in July 2011.
This does not correspond with the date we activated the new pipe after ourreplacement scheme in November 2011.
Our own checks have also confirmed that the water coming from the cliff isnot potable water, meaning that it hasn’t come from any of our drinkingwater supply pipes in the area.
Available evidence suggests the landslip was simply an act of nature. This theory is supported by an earlier study, conducted by the Council, which concluded that this stretch ofcoastline is geologically active, leading to periodic landslips.
McCain responds to cliff collapse
Frozen food company McCain says it is taking expert advice on a landslip in North Yorkshire, which residents claim has been caused by a leak from one of their waste pipes. Four homes will have to be demolished after the cliff at Knipe Point collapsed on Monday.
– McCain statementLike everyone else in Scarborough, we are well aware of the longstanding geological issues at Knipe Point. We have participated constructively on a voluntary basis in past authoritative studies which have concluded that inherent and unstable geological conditions at Knipe Point are the most probable reason for the issue. We have asked geological experts to assess the document’s contents before commenting further.
Four homes to be demolished after landslip
Four privately owned properties at Knipe Point near Scarborough will have to be pulled down after further significant land slippage earlier this week put them at risk of collapse.
Following recent bad weather, the properties, which are currently unoccupied, are now just a few metres away from the edge of the same active landslide, which four and a half years ago led to the loss of three bungalows.
Video: Landslip in North Yorkshire
Four cliff top houses may have to be demolished near Scarborough after a landslip which residents blame on a leaking waste pipe form a from frozen food factory. This is the scene at Knipe Point after the collapse.