INVESTIGATIONS by the Health and Safety Executive on the landslip site in Sandplace Road, Looe, are to begin on Monday, October 21, with clearance works.

The landslip, on March 22, enveloped Veronica Flats, taking the life of popular Looe resident Susan Norman, a 68-year-old mother and grandmother.

Mrs Norman's family and friends, have been anxiously awaiting the clearance of the site, which is a constant reminder of the tragedy.

Cornwall councillor for East Looe, Armand Toms said: 'Please can local residents respect the sensitivity of these works because of the potential impact on the family and friends of Mrs Norman.'

Cornwall Council says it recognises the impact of the ongoing works at Sandplace Road and St Martin's Road on local residents and businesses, and had originally hoped the HSE investigations would take place in September.

But there had unfortunately been a delay in the process.

The works are expected to take approximately four to six weeks.

As the contractor appointed by the landowner's insurance company will need to place skips on Sandplace Road to take away material from the site, it is proposed that the road will continue to be open to two-way traffic on a 'give and take' basis without the use of traffic lights. There will be no room for pedestrian provision.

St Martin's Road will continue to operate under traffic light control, where the council has been carrying out a detailed assessment into the feasibility of the options available for further work there.

Negotiations with individual landowners are currently under way so details of the work are not available until this has been completed.

A council spokesperson said: 'We are very conscious of the disruption any works will have and will seek to minimise the impact wherever possible.

'As the works on the Veronica Flats site will last until the end of November, and to avoid the busy pre-Christmas period, we are currently programming the road works to begin in January 2014, so the road can be fully re-opened in good time before Easter 2014.'