Death mine fears 'were raised two months ago'

RESIDENTS living near an abandoned mine shaft where a caver died from a lack of oxygen had called for it to be made safe just months before his death.

Peter Ireson, 37, from Livingston, died in hospital on Sunday evening after getting into difficulties the previous Thursday at the Wisp in Newcraighall.

Although temporary fencing had been put up around the shaft entrance, those living close by say it had disappeared by the time the experienced caver entered the mine.

And the organisation charged with maintaining the safety of the mine has admitted the shaft was marked as "missing" on its records.

A small brick wall surrounds the shaft and it is known that the mine was once capped, but this protection disappeared some time ago, leaving the mine entrance exposed.

Councillor Maureen Child said she was approached about two months ago by a resident who was concerned about the easy access.

She said: "The council responded fairly quickly in going down and having a look at what security could be put in and I was assured that action had been taken in response to local concerns."

But the fences which were put up were only temporary.

A council spokeswoman said: "We were asked to inspect the boundary wall of this site and some non-urgent maintenance was required. We erected some temporary fencing in certain areas to act as a physical barrier and visual deterrent to people attempting to access the site.

"Responsibility for the safety of the site lies with the landowner."

She said the council believed housebuilder Wimpey was the owner of the site and had notified the company of the need to secure it, but the company said it no longer owned the land.

Janet McKay, chairwoman of Niddrie Mill Tenants' and Residents' Association, said the group had regularly warned about the safety of the whole area, which lies above old mines. And several residents said that the shaft had been unprotected before the accident.

Alan Kiernan, of the Wisp, said: "There was a lot of fencing put along there about two months ago but it only lasted there for about a week or two."

Meanwhile, the Coal Authority, which keeps a register of known mine shafts, said its records did not show the location of the shaft and it had received no reports that it was unsafe.

Corporate affairs manager John Delaney said: "We have done a review of the register, and there's a report in there by British Coal that they went down to look for this shaft and couldn't find it."

Around 5000 sites are visited each year by inspectors.