Works to demolish homes to open up a residential street in Warwick are now underway, two years after access to the road was halted.

There have been safety concerns over homes and the highway on Priory Mews since February 2022 - thought to be subsidence caused by a burst water main led to safety concerns

All road access has been closed, meaning residents in the occupied homes could not get vehicle access. 

Councillors at Warwickshire County Council (WCC) last year revealed progress was on hold until Severn Trent Water cut a deal with the last remaining homeowner.

But now demolition works are underway and are expected to last around 10 weeks.

A Severn Trent spokesperson said: "While the cause and responsibility for the issues at Priory Mews is undetermined, to act in the best interest of those affected, we stepped in to help manage it to bring things to a resolution as quickly as possible.

"While there are factors involved that restrict the pace of this, demolition on some of the houses is now underway.

"We're continuing to work with other parties involved and would like to apologise to anyone who has been impacted by this ongoing issue."

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Demolition works are expected to last 10 weeks (image by Geoff Ousbey)

Last August Cllr Jan Matecki told WCC there was a "significant void under the carriageway" that will need to be filled could only be done once Severn Trent has demolished the four houses on either side of the road. 

"The road cannot be reopened until the work to fill the void has been done and this cannot be progressed with the heavy machinery required until the houses have been demolished," he said last summer."

He added "I can assure you it is not possible to make the repair without the demolition of the homes so it is not possible, as you suggest, to make the repair and claim back the costs from Severn Trent."

Severn Trent is in charge of the works at Priory Mews (image by Geoff Ousbey)