Family 'trapped' inside home after mosque work causes landslide

Vicky Cain watched in horror as a small hole in the corner of her garden, in Malham Gardens, Blackburn, ended up with her back fence toppling over and a shed teetering over a 20-foot drop.

One of the diggers working on the four-storey building had to be drafted in to prop up the shed while a motorbike and the children's bikes were pulled clear.

Contractors have now erected a safety fence inches from their back door and warned the family not to venture outside.

The mum, along with partner Vinny, and children Lucia, 15, Kiera, 12, and nine-year-old Charlie, have now been left living among their bikes, which they had to store inside.

Vicky said: "Usually Charlie goes and plays on the trampoline for 10 minutes before school but it's lucky he didn't.

"Just recently we've also bought a puppy and he's been penned in because we can't put him out any more."

Their housing association, Great Places, has promised a storage container, for their cycles, and offered support to the other three homes in their row.

Planning permission for a new Islamic welfare centre, by the Jamia Masjid Allah Hu in Whitendale Crescent, was finally approved in 2016.

Shaqeel Hanif, a spokesman for Naqshbandiyya Aslamiyya spiritual welfare foundation, which is behind the scheme, said: "We are quite taken aback by the fact there has been a landslide due to the weather.

"As soon as we became aware of the situation we had a meeting with our contractors to remedy the damage to the fencing.

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"We want to apologise and reassure our neighbours because it is important to us, as an Islamic community, that if they have any concerns over the next few weeks, they feel able to come to us and discuss them."

A Great Places Housing Group spokesman said: "We have been working with all the residents and especially the family most affected.

"The properties and the people living in them are safe and we have offered support and assurance in the short term and will continue to do all we can to help all our residents affected."

Borough council planning enforcement officials and building control experts have also visited.

Gavin Prescott, the council's planning manager, added: "It seems temporary safety mesh fencing and line pins were to be erected as a warning safety barrier to occupants not to go beyond the immediate pathway area.

"Ultimately, it is a private matter for Great Places and the owner and developer/contractor to resolve (under) Party Wall Act legislation. We are continuing to monitor the site to ensure the development complies with the approved drawings."