North Lanarkshire residents have launched legal action against a housing association over fears they have been living on contaminated industrial land.

Angela and Robert McManus live in the Motherwell area, which was the site of a former factory.

Engineers Metropolitan Vickers gave way to homes in the 1990s, but there are fears the site was never properly decontaminated.

The alarm was raised in October 2010 when North Lanarkshire Council told residents it had found traces of trichloroethylene (TCE) in open ground.

Homes in Forum Place, Romulus Court, Empire Way and Tiber Avenue are close to the affected ground.

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Collins Solicitors, which represents 43 local families, said tests it commissioned found the presence of potentially harmful chemicals which "far exceed stipulated safe levels".

It said chlorinated compounds and Toluene were found in air inside people's houses.

But in May and August last year, the council published test results saying there was "no evidence" of health risks from chemicals in the land.

Residents claim they have suffered illnesses connected to the toxic after-effects of the site's industrial use and Collins Solicitors has now brought a legal action against Lanarkshire Housing Association.

The test case on behalf of Mr and Mrs McManus would establish whether harmful substances are present at the site and causing health problems.

Des Collins of the solicitors said: "The properties are unfit for human habitation - the neuro-toxic vapours are making the residents ill. Lanarkshire Housing Association, as landlord to a number of residents on the estate, is responsible for the provision of accommodation which meets basic standards."

(NE)