ANGRY residents claim North Wiltshire District Council is ignoring their pleas for help in saving their sinking homes.

They say the gardens of their homes in Churchill Close, Calne, could be swallowed up at any time because they back onto subsiding land owned by the council.

But despite two reports from expert surveyors highlighting the danger of the site, residents say the council has taken no action to stabilise the land.

According to residents, the reports' say the land at the back of 17 properties on one side of the close, could retreat in millimetres or metres.

But mother-of-four Ingrid Smyth says a steep 20ft incline behind the houses that slopes into the River Marden, has dropped 2ft in the last month.

Neighbour Jenny Lloyd, who moved into her house in March 2002, says she has lost 2ft of her rear garden and has had to replace her fence three times because of the effects of the erosion.

Mrs Lloyd, who is retired, claims one resident has lost two sheds at the bottom of his garden and has had to build a third wooden shed in the side of his garden because land at the back of his property is unsafe.

Mrs Smyth, a child minder, says the council has known about the problem for years, but despite the surveys and advice of Halcrow, which specialises in land subsidence, she says it has delayed carrying out any remedial work.

She fears the erosion of the land has significantly devalued her house.

She said: "We're devastated. My husband is in the RAF and could come home tonight and tell me he's been posted. I can't rent the house or lease it and I can't even let my kids out to play in fear of the ground disappearing from underneath them.

"I love my home, it's fantastic. It's five minutes from where my kids go to school, there's nothing behind us and we have a beautiful view. I don't want to leave and why should I be forced to move because the district council won't pull their finger out."

But director of the district council, Bob Gwilliam, said: "The surveys show there is no immediate danger, but over time we will have to do remedial work.

"We have been monitoring the situation for the last 18 months and carried out a full range of surveys looking at the area and we're confident it's okay at the moment. But we take our responsibilities seriously and we will have to look at what is needed in the future."

Mr Gwilliam said the district council has no imminent plans to do any work at the site. But he said reports about the problems at the site would be going before members of the district council in October for funding for next year.

Residents say they have been promised twice that work would be done to stabilise the land, but have been let down on both occasions due to a lack of funds.

They are most frightened about the rate at which the land is disappearing, and they believe this is accelerating.

Mrs Smyth, said: "The Halcrow survey confirmed our worst fears that the land slippage is accelerating, it is going faster and it's getting to the point of no return really."

In 2002 Mrs Lloyd raised her concerns with the district council and arranged a meeting with their representatives and residents.

She said residents have maintained a positive dialogue with the district council, but have become frustrated with their failure to start the work. But she added residents would welcome any confirmation that work to stabilise the land is planned.