ACTION is to be taken to stop a quarry face subsiding because it is causing a garden to collapse.

The worked-out quarry face, at the Regent Cinema site in Station Road, West Cornforth, County Durham, supports the garden of a privately owned house in Poplar Terrace.

Its deterioration has resulted in the loss of soil from the top of the quarry, leading to subsidence of the garden and the loss of the garden fence.

There is now an unprotected five metre drop from the garden into the quarry.

Sedgefield District Council has agreed a scheme to stabilise the quarry face with a supporting embankment.

The work, which will cost £30,000, should be completed in the spring.