District councillor Simon Coy said he believes money must be found to carry out urgent remedial work on a row of houses in Calne standing on subsiding land.

A private meeting was held with residents and members of North Wiltshire District Council last week to discuss the situation.

Houses on Churchill Close have lost between five and ten feet from their back gardens due to subsiding land owned by the district council. The houses are a mixture of privately owned and Westlea Housing Association properties.

Members of the district executive committee visited the site after residents invited them to view the scale of the problem. After seeing the extent of the damage they called the emergency meeting with residents.

A footpath that ran behind the houses has disappeared as more and more soil slides down the bank.

Coun Coy, lead member for finance, said although he could not comment on liability he personally felt that the work had to be done and the council should find the extra cash.

He said: "I feel these people have suffered enough. I feel we should go ahead with the work on a without prejudice basis. We have to find the money in whatever way we can."

The council has employed surveyors to investigate the site in January and carry out borehole tests.

"We can't solve the problem until we know what the problem actually is," said Coun Coy.

The results of the investigation will be produced in three to five months and go before the executive committee and then the full council.

But resident Ingrid Symth called for action to be taken urgently.

She said the land was subsiding daily. "You can see the earth moving and the movement is accelerating. It is very frightening," she said.

She described the meeting with the district council as a farce.

"It was a complete waste of time," she said.

"We are in exactly the same position we were in a year ago. We have just been told to go away for five months and keep our fingers crossed that our gardens don't disappear. I don't think anything is going to be done before March."