TWO cars were crushed when a landslide sent tons of earth and rubble crashing down on to a roadside.

No one was hurt, but residents were left counting the cost of the damage in Greenfield, near Oldham.

Record levels of August rain have been blamed for the slip in Chew Valley Road, which caused a wall to collapse and an embankment to plunge down.

A nearby pub had to be closed and police were advising people to stay out of their homes until engineers were sure it was safe.

Dave Stuttard, who works at Generator Services, had his Vauxhall Astra badly crushed along with his boss's Range Rover. He said: "You could see the wall was bulging under the pressure of the rain.

"We made sure customers did not park where the wall looked most dangerous by parking our cars there."

Andrew Blake, whose flat overlooks the scene, said: "The road drains have been blocked for some time. I have made about 15 requests to the council for action to be taken."

He said he had also reported concerns over the bulging wall and that it had been inspected, but nothing had been done.

Carl Evans, 49, who lives next to the landslide, said excess traffic and building work at the nearby railway station could be to blame.

Another resident, who asked not to be named, said: "I heard a loud bang, looked out the window and saw what had happened. It was a little scary but we were soon reassured everything would be all right."

A spokesman for Oldham council said: "Our initial response was to fence off the affected area so that public safety was maintained. We have been in contact with contractors who will make the remaining exposed embankment safe.

"On initial inspection, there has been some damage to cars that were parked alongside the wall, but no residents have been injured and no houses are in danger."