WORK to decontaminate 29 homes at the site of a former gasworks in Littleport has been completed. The work, which involved a protracted legal wrangle when home-owners found themselves unable to sell their homes, involved excavating all gardens and landsc

WORK to decontaminate 29 homes at the site of a former gasworks in Littleport has been completed.

The work, which involved a protracted legal wrangle when home-owners found themselves unable to sell their homes, involved excavating all gardens and landscaped areas to remove anything that would cause potential health risks to the residents at Old School Close and Ponts Hill.

More than 5,000 tonnes of soil was taken away before the gardens and open spaces were re-landscaped.

East Cambridgeshire District Council had committed £370,000 of its own money as well as obtaining over £245,000 from the Department of Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to pay for the decontamination.

Liz Knox, head of Environmental Services at East Cambridgeshire District Council, said: "The last few months have seen the culmination of years of hard work dealing with technical, legal and funding problems that have cropped up as we have worked to remedy the land. More importantly local residents can now begin to move on with their lives. They, more than anyone, know how this issue has affected them - they have shown great patience throughout as we have gone through the necessary red tape before we could begin the work.

"We have been in constant dialogue with the residents throughout this process, explaining what is happening and giving them the latest health and safety information as we had it. We believe that with the culmination of this work this chapter of Littleport's history is now closed. It has been a long and in some cases difficult journey but by working together with residents we have managed to come through a very difficult process.