Work starts to repair mineshaft damage

Work to repair two mineshafts which opened up in the same street is getting underway and is likely to take ten weeks, a council has announced.

Cornwall Council's highways engineering company Cormac said arrangements with utility providers had been finalised and work was due to begin on Wednesday 24 June.

It warned "unexpected challenges can arise once excavation begins".

A hole opened up in the middle of Newton Road, in Troon, near Camborne in May and a second hole was fenced off last year, prompting Troon Residents' Action Group to stage a protest calling for the council to fix them "as a matter if urgency."

It follows a six-month closure after a mineshaft opened in nearby Pendarves Road in Beacon, which reopened in May.

Cormac said Newton Road would have to remain closed until the repair work was completed.

The work "will involve a series of coordinated activities carried out over several weeks to remediate two mining features and prevent any further deterioration," it said.

Because of limited space and safety reasons, work will be completed on one feature before moving to the other, and Cormac said it would "allow the road to be fully reinstated and returned to normal use".

The clearway zone which s already in place will operate 24 hours a day until the mining remediation project is completed, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Cormac said it understood parking is important for businesses and residents. but the clearway will make sure buses have enough space to manoeuvre safely and run reliably.

Its teams will contact and motorists who are parked or obstructing the clearway zones before arranging removal but warned any vehicles causing an obstruction will be towed away.

Vehicles parked in the clearway may be towed at the owner's expense, Cormac added.

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