RESIDENTS of a Millom housing estate are facing yet another delay before discovering if their homes were built on contaminated land.

People living on Estuary Close and Lancashire Road were told to expect news by the end of October – but the anxious wait continues.

Previous delays in producing a report on the situation were blamed on poor weather conditions which hampered experts conducting tests on site.

Now, the borough council says scientific experts are studying a preliminary report, meaning it could still be weeks before a final version is released.

Copeland Borough Council engaged consultants after claims that gardens on the estate were riddled with arsenic.

Residents have already voiced their frustrations over the wait, fearful they might not be able to sell their houses.

Traces of arsenic, carbon dioxide and methane were found on the land at the start of the year.

Borough councillor George Clements would not divulge the contents of the preliminary report. However, he said he had been prepared to explain the current situation during a full council meeting held in Whitehaven last week if anyone raised the matter but no-one did.

Cllr Clements said: “We expect the full report either this week or next week.

“Once we have got it through we will be sending it to the relevant partners, residents and everyone who has been involved.

“We have got to see what the report says first, before speculating on what is going to happen.”

Millom Councillor Robin Pitt has been working to help residents get to the truth. He said: “As ward councillors we are under a lot of pressure from people who want to buy and sell. Until it is cleared up it is obviously a fraught area.”

The possibility there were dangerous substances in the ground was raised as far back as 2003, but the information was not acted upon.

A full survey was carried out in January by developer David Ross, of Wellington Street, which led to the council mounting its own investigation.