A GUNNISLAKE pensioner who discovered his property was built over an old mine shaft says his health is beginning to suffer after months of worry. The shaft was discovered in the front garden of Larry Lockett?s Sandhill Park home by Caradon District Council, when engineers were drilling bore holes in the area. That was at the beginning of March. The council left a pile of excavated earth by the shaft and fenced off Mr and Mrs Lockett?s garden, erecting danger notices. But the couple say they have had no contact with the council since then ? and now fear they could be faced with a hefty bill, which they cannot afford to pay, to cap the shaft. Mr Lockett, 68, said: ?We haven?t heard anything from the council now for eight weeks ? nothing at all. ?It?s an eyesore and with all this rain that we?ve had, the top of it is slipping down where it was loose. You can see it subsiding into the hole ? you can also now see the netting the builders put in there when they first found it. ?They ruined my lawn with the earth they took out, but since then, they haven?t moved a thing and no-one has been near.? Mr Lockett said the only communication he had received since the shaft was discovered was from his solicitor. ?It seems to me they are just dragging their feet,? said Mr Lockett. ?It?s worrying me ? I wake up and it?s on my mind. I woke just after 4am the other day and started thinking ?What am I going to do if I have to pay??. ?My blood pressure has gone up ? I?ve never had high blood pressure before and now I?ve been seeing the doctor for the last three weeks. ?Apparently, the council reckons I?ve got to pay for it to be capped, or they?ll do it and charge me, but there?s no way I can afford to get it done on my pension.? Jerry Masters, head of operations and technical services for Caradon, said the council was ?an independent third party? as far as the mineshaft was concerned. He said: ?Unfortunately, it?s down to Mr Lockett to look after it himself as a landowner. We have a duty to ensure there is no risk to life and limb as a result of what has developed there. ?We have mitigated that by putting up fencing and we have left it there for several months. ?The consultant we use has given advice to Mr Lockett?s solicitor on what needs to be done ? it?s now back to the landowner.? Mr Masters said that ultimately the council could be forced to serve an enforcement order requiring Mr Lockett to cap the shaft, or undertake the work itself and re-charge the cost to him as landowner. He said it was difficult to say how much the work would cost, but could be in the region of £10,000.
