Residents of 30 homes in Coalsnaughton were told to pack what they needed and leave immediately at around 8.20pm on Monday evening after concerns emerged about ground movement and possible sinkholes. By Tuesday morning, Benbuck View was still closed off, two police cars were parked outside the metal fencing put up after the evacuation, and there was no clear timetable for when people could go home.

Some residents were taken to Devonvale Hall by Clackmannanshire Council officials, while others were put up in hotel rooms for the night as work continued to judge the scale of the damage. Officials were still moving through the properties to assess any potential damage, and residents in nearby Dunmoss View were asked whether they had cracks in their homes.

From outside the barriers, no sinkholes could be seen, even as social media filled with unconfirmed reports about what had happened in the area. The gap between those reports and the scene on the ground was stark: a cordoned-off street, a handful of police vehicles and residents waiting for answers that had not yet come.

The evacuation followed fears that the ground beneath the street had shifted, but the extent and cause of the problem at Benbuck View had not been fully understood by Tuesday morning. Residents of Benbuck View may have been allowed back into their houses on Tuesday morning to collect belongings, but there was still no certainty about how long it would be before anyone could return for good.

For the families moved out overnight, the immediate question is not what caused the disruption but when normal life starts again. On Tuesday, that answer was still out of reach.