Isle of Wight landslip road re-opens after almost a year

A road, closed for almost a year following a huge landslip on the Isle of Wight, has fully re-opened after extensive engineering works.

The huge collapse on 10 December 2023 saw 40 acres of land fall away, leaving several homes teetering on the edge of a cliff.

Residents were initially forced to leave 20 homes in Bonchurch and the A3055 Leeson Road between Shanklin and Ventnor was closed as a precaution.

Since then, Isle of Wight Council has been drilling boreholes up to 130 metres deep, to install monitoring equipment which will measure ground movement.

In addition there will be weekly site inspections and regular reviews of automated data.

The authority said if the road needed to be closed, details would be published on the council's social media channels as quickly as possible.

One lane of the road reopened for the summer holidays - it fully closed again on 8 September.

During the closure, drivers were diverted from Ventnor, via Wroxall, and from Shanklin, via Whiteley Bank.

Councillor Phil Jordan, council leader and Cabinet member for highways and infrastructure, said: “We are extremely pleased that the road will be reopened ahead of the Christmas period, and I would like to thank residents and the business community for their support and patience during this work.

"I know how difficult this has been for the community generally and work has not been without problems to overcome but I am extremely pleased with the outcome."