9:34AM, Thu Sep 27, 2012

15 Minutes To Pack: Families In Collapsing Flats Grab Their Belongings

By Joe Daunt Location: Newburn

Video: The strictly-enforced safety cordon at Mill Vale

Some residents are being allowed back into a stricken block of flats that is balancing on what's left of its washed away foundations.

Families living at Mill Vale in Newburn, near Newcastle, have been given permission to move back or return for their possessions, depending on where their flat is located.

Those choosing to return have been told to pack an 'emergency bag' so that they can leave in a hurry if the building does start to crumble.

Others were given just 15 minutes to grab their things.

Everyone was evacuated in the early hours of Tuesday 25 September after a culvert collapsed following heavy rainfall, eating away tonnes of earth around the building.

On Wednesday, pregnant resident Rosemary Murdie tweeted at the local MP Catherine McKinnell desperate for an update.

She wrote: "When will residents be allowed back in to homes in mill vale to get stuff out? We've got the clothes were stood in n thats it!"

She tweeted again on Thursday that she and her partner had only been given a few minutes to go back for their belongings.

A car submerged in mud at the edge of the cordon

Each household was sent a letter jointly issued by Northumberland Estates, which owns the land where the culvert collapsed, Trinity Estates and builders Dunelm Homes, which said access was being allowed because no further movement had been seen in the flats overnight on Tuesday.

It said residents in Mill Vale South and Hareside Court were being allowed to move back in.

The letter said: "Conditional on the stability of the block and weather conditions and residents may be required to evacuate again in future.

"We would encourage residents to pack an emergency bag."

Those in Mill Vale North and parts of Spencer Court were subject to the 15 minute rule.

Those living in the worst-affected part of Spencer Court, Block D, are not able to go back to their homes at all.

A spokesperson for Newcastle city council said: “Some residents have been allowed back in on a temporary basis to collect belongings, and others have been allowed to return, subject to further assessment and weather conditions.

“The situation is being continually assessed and the safety of residents remains the focus and priority for all the partners involved in this incident.”