70-foot wall crashes down on to homes
‘LANDSLIDE’ SHOCKS RESIDENTS IN NIGHT
DEBRIS from a 70-foot wall was brought crashing down on homes by a “landslide” in Sneinton forcing families to be evacuated in the early hours of yesterday.
Parts of the wall smashed into gardens and bathrooms in Spalding Road.
Five families from four houses were told to leave home in the pouring rain after the 70-foot brick wall collapsed.
Residents were awoken by the noise of a tonne of bricks, rubble and earth falling into the back gardens of their terraced houses.
There is severe damage to some of the homes with bathrooms and kitchens flooded and the fallen wall broken up into huge chunks, police say. There have been no reported injuries. Norman Wheatley has lived on Spalding Road for 52 years and described the moment huge bits of brick fell into his garden and hit his conservatory.
The 57-year-old told the Post: “I was asleep and my daughter ran into my room to wake me up. The whole middle section
of the wall had fallen away and the two sides folded in.
“The people above us (on Windmill Lane) informed the council who have been out to assess it.
“It’s damaged the walls of the conservatory a bit but not the actual house. It’s completely smashed the garden.
“We’re really lucky it did not happen during the middle of the day. Sometimes children play out in the gardens. It could have been even more serious and I’m just glad no-one was hurt.”
Mr Wheatley says the council has contacted him and said assessors would now be surveying the damage.
Lynn and Terry Oakley, of Spalding Road in Sneinton, helped out when the families were evacuated from their homes following the incident at 1am yesterday.
They live opposite the homes that were affected.
Mr Oakley, who has lived on the road for 30 years, said: “We heard a huge bang and the house moved. We thought ‘what was that?.’
“Kids were out here on the street. They were scared and frightened. We took a couple of families in to help while they were evacuated and relatives came and picked them up.
“The wall that fell was built 15 years ago after it was replaced.”
Clifford and Sandra Lowe, 74 and 76, fear their home could be next to be hit as they live below a part of the wall which did not fall away.
They were woken during the middle of the night but did not leave their home.
The Spalding Road couple said: “It is so shocking. It made such a loud noise and we felt the ground move.
“The whole wall has completely come away. There’s so much damage.
“We are worried the bit of wall above us could be next. We have been told to not go outside into the garden. We were asked to evacuate but we said no.”
Structural engineers are now attending to assess damage to the properties from the wall collapse
A Nottingham City Council spokesperson added: “We are aware of this incident and are supporting the police in their efforts to help affected residents.
“All residents in affected properties were safely evacuated nearby and we have arranged for temporary accommodation to be made available this morning for residents who need it.”
Nottinghamshire Police’s Inspector Charlotte Allardice said: “Emergency services were called from distressed residents following a report of a landslide in Spalding Road and Windmill Lane. They needed assistance with somewhere to stay overnight. They returned to their homes at around 6am having spent time with their neighbours.
“Roads close to the incident had to be closed until the area was deemed to be safe.
“The force is working closely with the local council and we are using our established contingency and emergency plans to respond to the situation.”