Village hit by landslide set to have its access road reopened

Published on Monday 14 December 2009 21:35

VILLAGERS cut off after a landslide hope to have their access road reopened today.

Householders in Lower Foyers, Inverness-shire, thought their homes had been hit by a hurricane on Sunday when water and debris swept down a hillside after a pipe carrying water for a nearby hydroelectric power station burst.

No-one was injured, but several properties had to be evacuated and access to the village was blocked. Yesterday, residents were given use of the private road running via the power station to bypass the damaged road.

A team of engineers has been on site since Sunday morning, when the cast-iron pipe, one of six carrying water to the hydro station at Foyers Falls, on the shores of Loch Ness, burst.

A spokeswoman for Scottish & Southern Energy said:

"This has been upsetting for the community. We are part of the community and we want to put everything right.

"The cause is subject to a thorough investigation. These pipes are monitored closely and checked regularly. They were checked recently and deemed to be fit for purpose.

"The power station has been there for over 100 years and there has never been an incident before, but one is obviously one too many. We are doing everything we can to get our neighbours back up and running."

She said severe frost may have contributed to the problem.

Businessman David Munro, 66, said: "We were woken at about 2:30am with what we thought was an extremely high wind, almost hurricane-style.

"When we looked out of the window there was just a sea of water coming down the hill."

Mr Munro, who runs lodges at Loch Ness, added: "The sheer power of the water was incredible."

Local councillor Drew Hendry said: "The issue of access to Lower Foyers has been a real problem for a while, and this only adds to this."