Engineers are due to begin work on assessing the stability of homes and land affected by the fatal landslip at Looe.

The A387 Sandplace Road and the B3253 at St Martin's Hill were closed to traffic following the slip in the early hours of Friday, March 22, to enable investigations to be carried out.

Although Sandplace Road has reopened, officials say it is too soon to give a date for the re-opening of St Martin's Road, which has been closed since Susan Norman, 68, died when her home at Veronica Flats, in Sandplace Road, collapsed after torrential rain.

Paul Allen, network manager (East) for CORMAC, said: 'We would like to be in a position to open the road to single-file traffic as soon as possible. However, our top priority is public safety and we must be satisfied that the road is in a safe condition.

'The first phase of ground investigation within the carriageway on St Martin's Hill is now complete. We are now commencing the second phase to recover core samples of the underlying bedrock for analysis.'

Mr Allen said Hyder Consulting, a Cornwall Council strategic partner, had been appointed for the first stage of a stability assessment of the properties and adjoining land which will take a week.

'This will be a brief evaluation of the current position for each of the eight properties,' he added. He said this would be followed by larger-scale investigations to to establish the stability of the slope, the retaining structures and the buildings.

Mark Camp, from Looe Tourist Information Centre, said they were working with Looe Town Council to promote the area while access was restricted.

A drop-in session for businesses to talk about their issues is being held at the Guildhall in East Looe between 10am and 4pm today (April 12). It will be attended by Malcolm Bell, head of Visit Cornwall, a business advisor from Cornwall Development Company and local councillors.