Several families in Derry could be forced to spend Christmas away from their homes after their gardens began to disappear over the weekend.
A landslide, after heavy rainfall, caused a retaining wall at Marlborough Terrace in the town to collapse last week. Then a second section came
down over the weekend.
Now there are fears that actual homes may be in danger of collapse.
Engineers have been on site trying to assess the best way to make the wall safe, while environment minister Alex Attwood has promised up to
£250,000 for repair work.
Residents had been left in limbo as they sought answers as to who's responsibility it was to repair the damage.
Derry City Council's strategic director, John Kelpie, told residents that the insurance companies had let them down.
"The people who have acted spectacularly badly are the insurance companies," he said.
"We are going to try and hold these people to account and do what we can to move this on."
SDLP councilor, John Boyle, added: "There will be men on site today, the area has to be made safe before the sewage problem can be sorted out. Then we will be looking into the future to find a final solution."
