Picture: Frank Dwyer A WOMAN from York whose garden collapsed during work on a new building near her home says "things are looking good again".

Work on a new Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, in St Stephen's Road, Acomb, caused the collapse of Keiko Croft's garden, in adjoining Clay Place, in May this year.

She and her husband, Paul, have spent the intervening months restoring the garden to its former glory.

"Things are looking OK now," Keiko said.

"It still looks quite bare compared to how it did before, and we completely missed the summer flowers, but it is not bad."

As well as the garden collapse, Keiko claims her house was also subjected to violent tremors, and that electrical wiring was loosened, and even that her double glazing was affected.

The damage was caused by Yorkshire Water contractors working on a sewage system on the site. The firm later apologised to Keiko and Paul. The contractors went on to repair the damage to the garden.

The building work is still under way, although Keiko says she has not been troubled by vibrations from the site for a while.

At present, a giant, 20-metre high piling machine is at work on the hall site, boring holes and inserting reinforced concrete to provide the foundations of the building.

Members of the local Jehovah's Witness community, who have commissioned the new hall as a combined effort, say the piling machine should put a stop to any further risk to Keiko's property.

Fred Mendham, one of the members, said: "The local congregation is very pleased that things are proceeding well now. We hope to see the project completed within about 12 weeks. The piling machine is very impressive to watch in action, and it should mean the end of the worries."

There has been some heartache for Keiko recently: while her garden was exposed following the accident, thieves made off with a treasured statue which "kept watch" on the house.

Updated: 11:29 Friday, August 10, 2001