Harrogate Council: "We're bringing in specialist engineers as soon as possible"

Working with the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, we evacuated seven properties. Three residents were taken to a rest centre at Ripon Fires Station which was opened by the Major Incident Response Team, where they spent the night.

The council’s Chief Building Control Officer has been out on site to ensure that the property and those surrounding it were of no danger to the public.

The utility services have visited the scene to assess the situation.

Emergency services have cordoned off the surrounding area to protect members of the public. The immediate danger to the public has been removed and the situation is now under control.

The cause of the incident is still to be confirmed. Whilst there is no visible damage to the main properties, we are looking at bringing in specialist engineers as soon as possible to assess the situation.

The property owners have been advised to contact their building insurers as soon as possible and to find alternative accommodation while further investigations are carried out by the insurers of the property.