£6m bill fears on clearing site soil in Willenhall

Council bosses could be hit with a £6 million bill to clean up a contaminated housing estate, built on a former gas works site in Willenhall, it emerged today.

Up to 90 properties on land near Kemble Close, Oakridge Drive and Brookthorpe Drive have been declared contaminated following a three-year investigation.

But if Walsall Council seeks to force housing developers to carry out the decontamination work and loses a legal battle, it could face the multi-million pound bill, a finance report has revealed.

Heavy metals, tars and a gas-manufacturing by-product known as Blue Billy were found in the soil at the former gasworks site.

It shut down in the 1960s and the homes were built shortly after. Residents have voiced fears over the impact on property values and set up a committee group.

They have been told not to eat vegetables grown in the gardens, to use gloves when weeding and cannot build extensions.