People living in Rossendale, Lancashire, had a lucky escape after a sudden huge earth slide collapsed a retaining dry stone wall at the back of nearby homes.

Police initially feared that some householders may have been trapped under the mountain of rubble.

But, luckily, the slide only took out a number of outbuildings that used to house outside toilets and smothered a few cars. Firemen took four hours to clear the earth slide, which occurred at 8pm last Tuesday, and assure residents that there were no casualties.

Graham Ridge of Davies Loss Adjuster, who was called in to asses the damage, said: "This was quite an unusual case as there had been no particularly bad weather.

"It may have been that the wall was just poorly maintained and chose to give way at that moment."


The 2025 Insurance Times Awards took place on the evening of Wednesday 3rd December in the iconic Great Room of London’s Grosvenor House.

Hosted by comedian and actor Tom Allen, 34 Gold, 23 Silver and 22 Bronze awards were handed out across an amazing 34 categories recognising brilliance and innovation right across the breadth of UK general insurance.
Many congratulations to all the worthy winners and as always, huge thanks to our sponsors for their support and our judges for their expertise.

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