Jails are better than this! Desperate families slam 'filthy, damp' digs after mining village is evacuated

By CLAIRE ELLIOT, SCOTTISH GENERAL NEWS REPORTER Published: 20:50, 8 June 2026 | Updated: 20:50, 8 June 2026 Residents evacuated from a former mining village claim ‘jails are better’ than the ‘damp’ and ‘filthy’ accommodation the council has offered them. Families in Coalsnaughton, Clackmannanshire, face being out of their homes for at least two months as investigations take place to find out why their properties are ‘moving down hill’ following initial signs of ground movement last month. Some 97 households have been displaced but many are unhappy with Clackmannanshire Council for putting them up in temporary student rooms at Stirling University which they say smell of ‘cat foul’. Images posted online by disgruntled families show smeared oven doors, mouldy radiators, dirty worktops and floors, broken units and overflowing bins. One photograph also shows a single bed with a bare mattress in the corner of a small room, with families – some with young children – claiming they are being forced to separate and told if they are not happy to ‘sleep in their car’. One displaced villager has now written to local Labour MP Brian Leishman on behalf of the community saying they were ‘desperate for help now’. In her letter Julie McCheyne, who was evacuated almost a fortnight ago, explains how she and her family are now living in a hotel room with ‘no fridge, cooking facilities or ability to prepare proper meals’. She wrote: ‘While we appreciate that emergency accommodation had to be found quickly, this situation is becoming increasingly difficult and unsustainable. Ground investigations underway at Benbuck View in the village of Coalsnaughton following subsidence at several houses in the street Disgruntled Coalsnaughton villagers posted images from their temporary accomodation ‘Residents who have been relocated to Stirling University accommodation have shared photographs and experiences on social media showing conditions that are filthy, damp and, in many cases, simply not suitable.’ Another resident said she was told she had been given ‘one of the better’ rooms. But she added: ‘[We] walked in and the first thing you smelled was cat foul, the kitchen has rotten wood, the cooker wasn’t even cleaned and the showers smelled horrible too. It was absolutely disgusting.’ Another claimed ‘jails are better than this’, while one woman said after moving to the student accommodation families and couples were being ‘separated into single rooms’. Coalsnaughton, which has a population of around 1,300, was built in the 18th century to house miners, with the area said to be littered with mineshafts. Residents say they have been told their streets are moving between ‘10 and 15mm a day’. Workers from the UK Government’s Mining Remediation Authority (MRA), have been drafted in to investigate. Carl Banton, chief operations director for the MRA, said ‘multiple specialist teams’ were ‘carrying out detailed engineering assessments to understand the cause of the ground movement’. Clackmannanshire Council said its staff ‘recognise this is a difficult and upsetting time for the residents involved and are working under sustained pressure to offer them continued support’. A spokesman for the University of Stirling said: ‘We are working in partnership with Clackmannanshire Council to provide temporary accommodation for a small number of families, who have engaged positively with our staff and settled well into the accommodation. Our staff are available 24/7 to support them.’ No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.