����ý

A stop notice has been issued after tonnes of earth were removed from a hillside, prompting fears of a landslip.

People living below Nantyglo Rugby Club, Blaenau Gwent, said a traveller group began excavating the site last week.

Blaenau Gwent council said it had served a stop notice to the landowners, which would remain for 28 days.

It said it believed the excavation amounted to a planning breach.

A spokesperson for the council said on Friday: "We consider that there has been a breach of planning control by the unauthorised excavation of this land.

"This includes importation of material, creation of embankments and re-profiling of the area. The (stop) notice requires that the activity specified is stopped with immediate effect."

The council said it had commissioned independent experts to assess the stability of the land, but concluded that there was no immediate risk to nearby properties or the road above.

Yvonne Bell, who organised a petition against the work on the land, welcomed the stop notice but still had concerns.

"They've served notice but that only applies for 28 days - I don't think it'll stop them," she said.

"Unfortunately this notice should have been issued last Thursday before the field got like this, they should have done it sooner.

"I think they've dragged their heels. It didn't need to take nine days. They need to get on the ground to see exactly what they have done."

The owner of the site previously said the land would be used for grazing horses.

When asked whether there were plans to turn it into a settlement in the future, he did not deny that to be the case.

He also claimed he and others had been subjected to anti-traveller sentiment and abuse over the past week.