Families can return home

Two families have returned to their homes in Bewdley after a landslip forced them to be evacuated.However, it could be weeks before other affected families are allowed back following the collapse on the Severn Valley Railway which caused £500,000 damage.

The flooding at Northwood Halt off Northwood Lane threatened to send tonnes of rock, mud and debris crashing down on top of six bungalows near the railway embankment.

Torrential rain poured down a nearby hillside, forcing the saturated earth to move and trigger 40-metre long cracks to appear in the ground below the track.

The road remains closed to traffic but yesterday two families were allowed to return to their bungalows.

The other four homes remain cordoned off and residents may not be allowed to return for several weeks.

SVR general manager Nick Ralls said: "The residents are being allowed back in but they are under caution.

"If the landslip can't be stabilised they will have to come out immediately. There is a very serious threat still to all six homes.

"It's another disastrous blow for us and we were hoping to get this stretch of line opened by September. Now it's been put back another three months.

"We've had 100 years worth of problems here in just six weeks."

An emergency planning team consisting of senior district council staff, local police and fire and rescue representatives have been at the site monitoring the situation all week.

And with more heavy rain forecast for the next 24 hours, SVR bosses are bracing themselves for more misery.

The track between Bewdley and Arley will now not be repaired until December at the earliest and will increase the overall damage estimate to £2.5 million.

By Sol Buckner