Scotland quarry blast smashes into homes

Residents of a Scottish village had a near miss when a blast at a nearby Dawn Homes site threw debris into their homes.

One homeowner told of how a boulder came right through her house and into her lounge.

Dawn Homes was using a controlled explosion at a nearby quarry, where it is planning to build new homes.

But the explosion near the village of Kilsyth in North Lanakshire was much larger than expected.

One resident at the estate said: “Rocks from the explosion went through the roofs of houses. In one case a boulder went right through into the lounge. She said debris from the explosion went right through a brick wall in one garden and “right through a conservatory and bathroom wall” in another home. She added: “No-one has been injured which is quite surprising really. It’s a total miracle.”

In a statement, Dawn Homes said debris from a controlled blast had exceeded the perimeter of the safety exclusion zone set by specialist blasting contractors on site.

“There has been some damage to local properties and Dawn Homes regrets any inconvenience to those neighbours and local people affected,” it said. “Safety is of utmost importance to Dawn Homes and the company is taking this incident very seriously.”

The company said it would co-operate fully with the police investigation and was also undertaking its own probe into the incident.