A family have been told the value of their Birmingham house has dropped by £30,000 because it is situated on a estate that was once the location of an industrial landfill site.

Although Beverley Robinson's house was given the all-clear by the council, estate agents have told her to expect a further price drop if it is to be sold.

The 40-year-old housewife lives with husband Andrew, aged 39, and two daughters Emily, aged ten, and eight-year-old Lucy in Willson Croft, Hall Green.

When their house was put on the market in July last year, its original asking price was £225,000, but has since dropped considerably, following an announcement from Birmingham City Council.

The council's letter sent to residents stated people living in Willson Croft and the surrounding roads Priory Road, Bach Mill Drive, The Launde and Graith Close were at a significant risk of harm from arsenic, cadmium, nickel and lead, found in garden soil.

It then emerged that houses affected by the contaminated land would need to be cleaned, with layers of soil scraped away and replaced.

In spite of the widespread contamination, some houses were not affected by the poisons and were certified as safe to live in by the council.

But even though the Robinsons' house was one of the properties which did not need to have their gardens cleared, and they received a certificate from the council's senior technical officer Paul Burns in November last year saying so, they were told by their estate agent Dixons their house price had fallen to £195,000.

Mrs Robinson said: "I have papers from Birmingham City Council saying soil levels are so low that my land is not contaminated and since then I have had no contact at all with the council.

"We asked about ten estate agents to value the house and the general view was it was worth between £ 190,000 and £ 230,000 which is quite a big gap and now it is on sale at £195,000.

"I know property is not selling at the moment anyway but £30,000 is a lot of money and I may have to reduce this property even more.

"People have come to see it and they love the house but then nobody bothers to put an offer in.

"It is well decorated, it is in a good condition and there is nothing that needs immediate attention. It is a three bedroom detached house and I cannot understand any reason why someone would not buy it."

Mrs Robinson said she urgently needed to move her family out of the area because her mother was seriously ill and not because of the contaminated land nearby.

"I am selling because my mum is poorly and I want to move closer to her. She has angina and she sometimes needs a little bit of help.

"She has had it for 18 months to two years and she gets breathless. She has been into hospital on many occasions.

"Recently we lost both my husband's mother and stepfather, there is nothing keeping us in the area."

Dixons was unavailable to comment.