A hole lot of trouble: landowners' liability for sinkholes

From Cambourne, to Northants, to Weardale – across the country, with some regularity, sinkholes open up to the consternation of those living or walking nearby. They can be caused by collapsed shafts or adits, or just the sudden drop of earth over shallow, historic workings. Whatever the cause, the owner of the mines and minerals will bear responsibility for sorting the problem.

Since historic estates very often own 'severed' mines and minerals, underneath land where the estate has not owned the surface for centuries, this means such estates carry a long-term contingent liability for such occurrences.

Under the Occupiers' Liability Acts, the mines and mineral owner is likely to have sufficient control over the premises to be potentially liable. First, a reminder of an occupier's duties: the 1957 Act places a duty of care on occupiers towards their lawful visitors (including those accessing the land on footpaths, as well as the landowner's direct guests), whereas the 1984 Act places a reduced duty of care on occupiers towards trespassers on their land (including those who have strayed off footpaths).

Sinkholes are, of course, sudden and unpredictable, but owners of severed mines and minerals are usually familiar with the areas where old workings cause present-day ground instability. Surface owners soon put them on notice when a sinkhole opens up. That knowledge is likely to create a duty of care to take reasonable steps to protect the public from the sinkhole.

In addition to the Occupiers' Liability Acts, there is also an important statutory liability under section 151 of the Mines and Quarries Act 1954, which obliges the owner of any mine abandoned after 1872:

"…to secure that the surface entrance to every shaft or outlet thereof is provided with an efficient enclosure, barrier, plug or other device so designed and constructed as to prevent any person from accidentally falling down the shaft or from accidentally entering the outlet and that every device so provided is properly maintained".

The duty also applies to coal, ironstone, shale or fireclay mines abandoned before 1872. Section 151 contains further provisions that such outlets to mine and quarry workings accessible from the highway (if they are not rendered safe) will be statutory nuisances under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. This means local authorities can step in to do the work and enforce payment from the mineral owner at a later date.

The provisions are tricky. There will be arguments for and against whether the mineral owner is responsible under section 151. But given the danger to life and limb presented by these hazards, the precautionary principle dictates that it is prudent for the mineral owner to assume that they are potentially liable, rather than to seek a 'technical' argument that they are not (the optics of doing so are not good).

Where estates know there is a risk from historic mine workings, it is essential that they have public liability insurance to cover the risk. It can also be important to develop good communications with surface owners and agreed protocols for dealing with hazards swiftly as they arise. Depending on the circumstances, surface owners themselves are potentially liable under the Occupiers' Liability Acts; reminding them of that may help promote cooperation.

This publication is a general summary of the law. It should not replace legal advice tailored to your specific circumstances.

© Farrer & Co LLP, July 2026