Exclusive:Coalsnaughton: Families 'in limbo' in hotels and Airbnbs as ground continues to move

Officials are still searching for answers on the ground movement in the former mining village which shows “no signs of stopping”.

More than 250 residents in the town have been told to move out, but some residents who have chosen to stay behind are preparing to submit a formal complaint to Clackmannanshire Council over claims of “misinformation” over the risk to their properties.

The Mining Remediation Authority, which has been on the ground in the village for the past few weeks, says there is up to 10mm of ground movement happening every week in the affected streets.

In total, there has been 345mm of ground movement in Dunmoss View and 300mm in Benbuck View - but this does not include movement that occurred during the initial event back in May.

Get our revamped Steamie newsletter

Brian Leishman, the MP for Alloa and Grangemouth, says families have been left in “limbo” with many struggling to find suitable accommodation in the area.

He told The Scotsman: “The Mining Remediation Authority has still not determined the root cause of this, so the families are still in limbo.

“My office is helping people with insurance claims and utility contracts, and helping them get temporary accommodation but a lot are still in hotels or AirBnBs.

“I know of one family that is being shunted daily from hotel to hotel, which is not great for the kids or the adults.

“Temporary accommodation is the big issue at the moment, because the MRA can only go as fast as it can.

“It is not going to get resolved in the next few weeks.”

Keith Brown, the MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, also said it is unlikely those who have been evacuated will be able to return home before Christmas. He also said he can “see no other conclusion than this being mining-related”, and has written to UK Energy Minister Michael Shanks asking him to visit the village.

Mr Brown added: “People in the village are experiencing the worst anxiety and have said the not knowing is the issue. The movement is still taking place.”

Read more: 'A community at breaking point': Inside the Coalsnaughton evacuations

Sensors have been fitted to some of the houses on the edge of the cordon where residents have chosen to stay put.

This includes inside Lezley Creevy’s house, where alarms will go off if the sensors detect any significant movement. She stays in Langour, where the residents have been told to evacuate, but many have chosen to stay put instead as they believe their older buildings will withstand the ground movement.

She said: “It’s not great. It is still not clear what is happening but I think it has stopped in our street.

“But we are putting in a formal complaint to the council over the misinformation they are giving us - they are telling us our buildings are falling down when they’ve only been out once in four weeks.

“The MRA is constantly checking in on us and giving us information and what is moving and is not moving, and have said it is safe for us to stay here despite having some cracks. They are not hiding about what is going on even though we are in a difficult situation.

“Some of us have been threatened under dangerous buildings legislation as well, so we are trying to get a face-to-face meeting with the council.

“We are all worrying and it is affecting our health and wellbeing. It is making a horrible situation even more horrible.”

The Mining Remediation Authority said it is “not yet in a position” to say what has caused the ground movement, as their eight-week long investigation is still ongoing.

Further drilling inside the cordon is due to begin this week.

Carl Banton, chief operations director at the Mining Remediation Authority, said: “Monitoring and investigation work is continuing at pace to help us better understand what is happening below the surface.

“To do this we are carrying out camera scans, underground surveys and geophysics investigations to help identify any mine workings and build a clearer picture of ground conditions.

“LiDAR surveys are continuing weekly to compare movement over time and create heat maps that help us track any changes across the area.

“This week, we will complete the borehole drilling at Benbuck View as part of our initial investigation works and we will be undertaking further drilling at Nechtan Drive, Dunmoss View and The Glen.

“Following this, monitoring instrumentation will be installed in the boreholes which will provide essential data to help us understand whether ground movement has stabilised, which we expect may take around two weeks.”

He added: “Our thoughts remain with the residents affected and we would like to assure the community that we are doing all we can, as quickly as possible, alongside the local resilience partnership to understand the cause of this incident, and identify the potential activity needed to make the area safe again.”

The Mining Remediation Authority also told The Scotsman that a quarter of British homes sit on or near former coalfields, but for “the vast majority”, the land is “stable and safe”.

Nikki Bridle, chief executive of Clackmannanshire Council, said: “As part of the ongoing work to keep affected residents informed of progress, partner organisations held an update meeting for those residents on Tuesday 23 June.

“The priority of all local resilience partners continues to be the safety and welfare of everyone involved, and that includes staff, contractors and residents accessing the site.

“Our officers continue to work tirelessly to support residents during what we appreciate is an extremely worrying and uncertain time.

“Clackmannanshire Council continues to engage directly with residents impacted by this incident and provide support to those residents with temporary accommodation and other welfare-related support. Updates on this provision were provided at the meeting.”