TWO large sink holes developed in a field near Ballingry last week but the Coal Authority were quickly on the scene when the farmer notified them of the incident.

One of the contributors to the Benarty Matters Facebook page, Gary McDonald, posted on Thursday: "Sink holes up the Avenue have fencing round them now.. took this pic about 1pm." Gary's pictures show how the field involved was fenced off.

The Stevenson family, who farm the area involved, were informed by the authority that one of the shafts was around 60 feet deep and the other a lot shallower.

At the weekend the Coal Authority, after fencing off the two holes off, infilled the holes with stone while a longer term treatment was considered.

A spokesperson pointed out that around 80 tonnes of material had been used to infill the holes and the CA were working with the landowner, and also the Scottish Gas Network, as a major pipeline ran through the site.

He pointed out that an assessment of the area had suggested that the incidents had occurred due to one being a deepish mine shaft and another from old mine workings.

Certainly the Benarty area has suffered from similar situations before with a sink hole forming in Kirktoun Street, Ballingry, in October 2017, after an old mine shaft gave way.

It was over 100 feet deep and needed substantial filling.