Island landslip site road to open for summer

The collapse initially forced residents to leave 20 properties off Leeson Road

A road shut after a landslip on the Isle of Wight in December will reopen for the summer holidays.

Leeson Road at Bonchurch, near Ventnor, has been closed since chunks of the cliff came away, leaving some homes perilously close to the edge.

Isle of Wight Council said it would open as a single lane with traffic lights and a team on site alongside devices monitoring any movement.

It is set to be open at 10:00 BST on Wednesday and will close again on 8 September at 22:00.

The council said the road would be closed immediately "should movement occur".

Council leader Phil Jordan said: "As we have consistently said, it has always been our aim to restore access to Leeson Road as soon as it is safe to do so.

"While there remains consistent, if currently minor, movement, we are confident that with the measures we will be putting in place and with electronic monitoring systems now in operation, the risk posed by the prospect of further significant movement is acceptable when balanced against the need to support the Ventnor community through the busy summer season."

Aerial photos captured by Island Echo showed the extent of the massive landslip

From 9 September the road closure will allow the drilling of three 85-metre (279ft) boreholes.

The council said additional monitoring equipment would be installed in the deep underground holes, which will also be used by Island Roads to "understand the nature of the underlying geology in the area".

The specialist equipment was installed in April to measure vertical and horizontal movement and any widening of existing cracks.

About 16 hectares (40 acres) of land fell away in the landslip on 10 December.