A demolition firm has had to abandon its premises after they were crushed in a cliff collapse.

The site sits at the foot of a cliff that fell in April, taking some of the road above with it and damaging their offices and machinery.

Employees at Lancebox Ltd in Swanscombe, Kent, started to return to the site in the last two weeks but have now been told by the council that it is unsafe.

Now they are left in limbo, too scared to go into work but unable to claim on the insurance unless they are actually ordered by the council to leave.

The firm was left to pick up the pieces after part of the road collapsed onto their premises on the Easter bank holiday on April 10, damaging buildings, vehicles and machinery.

The staff at the demolition firm have been mainly working from home since the landslide but have returned to the site full time in the past two weeks.

However, months on from the dramatic fall the company says it has been told it’s still not safe.

It has now been issued with a letter from Kent County Council (KCC) warning the landslide could happen again and advising them to leave the premises for their own safety.

Company secretary Shelley Clarke said: "It’s constantly in the back of your mind. You are afraid every day you come to work that the rest of it is going to come down."

"It collapsed out of the blue last time. Who is to say it won’t happen out of the blue again?"

"And it would land right on us. We’d be crushed."

Ms Clarke added: "When there is bad weather we are particularly worried."

"When you look out of the window you can see great chunks falling down all the time."

In a letter, KCC’s health and safety department advised the company to vacate its premises over fears more chalk could fall from the precarious cliff wall.

The report states: "The exposed area of the collapsed chalk face is in a precarious state and is liable to further deterioration and collapse, particularly if the area experiences extended periods of wet weather which could cause further weakening of the exposed area."

It added: "We would also suggest that you notify your insurers of the potential risk to your business and provide them with a copy of this letter if appropriate."

Despite the instruction to leave, the company says it cannot move unless it is officially served with a prohibition order.

Ms Clarke said: "We need an actual prohibition order telling us we have to leave. "

"The insurance will not pay if we are seen to be leaving of our own accord. So we are just in limbo."

The family-run firm has faced untold losses in assets and trade since its workshop was crushed with two lorries inside.

It has also had to pay to outsource a lot of its jobs as it no longer has the vehicles necessary to continue the business.

Ms Clarke said: "The maintenance man now has to work outside in all weathers. "

"It was just lucky the cliff fell on a bank holiday or he would have been in there and it would have been fatal."

The lack of information has left Ms Clarke and her fellow workers feeling


uneasy every time they go into work.

She added: "I keep my handbag close just in case I have to make a quick escape."

The demolition firm are confused as to why the road at the top of the cliff would be closed yet the one underneath remains open.

Ms Clarke said: "It’s crazy they have closed the road for two or three years but they have not closed the area directly underneath. If it falls, it is going to fall downwards."

The collapse is thought to have been triggered after a large 150mm mains pipe burst.

There are fears it could take three years to fix but businesses and residents have been given no timescale for its completion.

The family firm said it has had no communication with KCC over when work will start to repair the crumpling cliff face.

Kent County Council declined to make a comment.