Homes to go as mine opens up

Two homes had to be evacuated at short notice

Two homes in west Cornwall are facing demolition after an old tin mine shaft opened up beneath them.

The owners abruptly abandoned the properties in Wheal Ayr Terrace, St Ives.

The houses are being held up with scaffolding and will be demolished this month.

But there are plans to cap the shaft and rebuild the homes.

Robert Spencer said he was "devastated", after 23 years in the same house.

One MP says people are in the dark over the mine

He said: "It came so quickly, but we are coping.

"All the friends and neighbours have been wonderful, with offers of help, flats and so on."

Cornwall is littered with mineshafts, many of them unknown to people living near them.

Holes have opened up in gardens and even inside houses.

Last works

In October, a school was evacuated after a shaft was discovered under the playground during building work.

Pupils at Cusgarne School, near Redruth, continued lessons at a community centre while builders filled the extensive workings with cement.

The children decided to take advantage of the discovery, and carry out a project on the school's mine workings.

Cornwall's tin mining industry dates back 4,000 years.

Efforts are currently underway to re-establish operations at South Crofty Mine, the last functioning tin workings in Europe.