A SCOTTISH family’s home has been made safe after a “void” caused by the collapse of a 120-metre deep mine shaft was found underneath their garden.
The Mining Remediation Authority (MRA) announced on Monday that work using some 1700kg of resin to fill the mine had been completed.
A non-departmental UK Government body, the MRA said it had been called out to the home in Kilsyth in North Lanarkshire after a family member noticed a “depression” in the garden.
A connection was drawn between the depression and a previous mine entry inspection in the area, and the authority was contacted in April last year.
The MRA said: “Our investigations revealed that the change had been caused by the collapse of a historical coal mine shaft, which had created a void 20 metres below ground level.
“The shaft itself was found to be nearly 120 metres deep and needed to be made safe to prevent a more serious incident.
“A three-month project was soon designed to fill the shaft with more than 1700kg of resin, which was injected through a series of carefully drilled boreholes.”
Megan Phillips, MRA project manager, added: “This was a challenging but rewarding project for a number of reasons. Most importantly, we were able to make the garden of the property safe for the couple living there and they have been extremely happy with the work we have done.
“This is a family home that the couple have lived in for more than 40 years, so we also wanted to work with them to return their garden in good condition. We re-laid the garden and rebuilt the patio using existing materials.
“Through close communication with the family and their neighbours to explain the scope of the work we needed to carry out, our teams and partners involved in the project really went above and beyond to make the garden safe.”
The MRA said it holds records on 176,000 historical mine entries in Britain and carries out “proactive inspections of known coal mine shafts and adits (or tunnels) as part of a risk-assessed rolling programme to keep people safe and provide peace of mind”.
You can also report a coal mine hazard at any time by calling 0800 288 4242.
