A CAREFUL watch is being kept on a section of the B3254 road which connects the villages of St Keyne and Duloe, after a landslip above the site of an old quarry.

The road has begun crumbling away at the edges on the side of the hill leading down from St Keyne before the bridge, and the area has been cordoned off by Cormac with cones and tape to warn motorists of the danger.

A bus driver along the route, Gary Gwillam, says that from his cab he can look fully down into the quarry which is about a 30ft drop.

'It looks like the road is being undermined and I think there is a good chance it could fall down into the quarry,' he said.

St Keyne resident Aaron Barrett ran past the slip yesterday and said that it had got worse.

'It's an accident waiting to happen – it looks lethal,' he said. 'You can see how all the bank has fallen away leaving a sheer cliff of mud.

'The road surface is still in place but the earth has fallen away beneath it.

'When cars go past, you can feel the vibration in the road – it is quite alarming.'

County councillor for the area, Bernard Ellis, said that he is in contact with County Highways manager Rebecca Dickson, who has informed him the landslip was visited twice over the New Year break by a geotechnical engineer, who has reported he is happy with the remedial measures which are in place at the moment. 

Cllr Ellis said the landslip is now being inspected on a daily basis and if the situation deteriorates, further interim action will be taken.

A spokesperson for the county council said a permanent solution will be designed in due course.