Undercliff Drive landslip road access recommended

A letter sent by Island Roads said people could be prosecuted for trespassing if they used vehicles on the new road

Access to homes cut off by a landslide could be reinstated if recommendations are agreed by councillors.

Undercliff Drive, on the Isle of Wight, has been closed since February when two landslips left nine homes cut off.

Last month, residents took matters into their own hands by getting the road tarmacked but safety inspectors deemed it dangerous and cordoned it off again.

A highways report has recommended pedestrian access is built along with a low-cost road to the west.

Other options include re-establishing pedestrian access only and building access to the north of the affected properties.

'Fail without warning'

The Isle of Wight executive is due to consider the report on 11 November.

In the meantime, the resurfaced road, near St Lawrence, remains blocked off by the council amid fears it "could fail without warning".

Residents had initially hoped they would be allowed to use it at their own risk.

A four-mile detour was put in place after the road was first damaged. Eight families are still living in rented accommodation after being evacuated from their homes.

In September, Isle of Wight Council agreed to spend £500,000 researching a solution to repair the road, which is on a still-active landslip.

The land at Undercliff Drive on the south side of the island crumbled away in February