RESIDENTS who survived an explosion which sent massive boulders raining down on their homes and cars have won compensation payouts worth thousands of pounds.

They have been fighting for justice since the horror blast at a building site in Eaglesham, East Renfrewshire, caused serious damage to their properties on August 24 2012.

The explosion happened at an eco village housing development by Mactaggart and Mickel and emergency services were called but amazingly no-one was injured.

A lawyer, who represents a number of the residents living in the "epicentre" of the explosion in Bonnyton Drive, said they were "lucky to be a alive" and left traumatised by the afternoon incident which turned their quite street into a "war zone".

Patrick McGuire, a partner at Thompsons Solicitors in Glasgow, has won compensation for the shock and distress the explosion caused his clients but he insisted there were many more residents "suffering in silence" who have still to make their claims.

He said: "Claims have been made and compensation has been paid out.

"It is a pretty horrific story. What happened to these families is absolutely incredible really. It was a normal day and they had no warning whatsoever that anything was going on.

"Then all of a sudden they thought they were in a war zone, there was debris falling and a loud explosion, you don't expect that in your own home.

"There was a lot of damage to homes and cars around that area. It caused an awful lot of shock and upset and psychological injury to the residents.

"They are still disturbed by what happened. I don't see how anything like that can ever leave you. You expect to be at your safest in your own home, you certainly don't expect to have debris raining down on you during a quiet summers day.

"They have been compensated for the shock and distress the incident caused them. The compensation claims run into thousands of pounds.

"The response from clients is that they are satisfied that the company involved has accepted their wrongdoing and are making efforts to recompense the families.

"There is no doubt this has helped with the healing process."

Mr McGuire is convinced there are more victims in the area who have still to come forward to make their claims.

He added: "There are still people out there who are eligible for compensation who still haven't come forward and I would urge them to do so.

"There could be scores of people out there because I cannot imagine there was a single resident of Bonnyton Drive who won't have been affected by this and won't have a claim.

"Bonnyton Drive seems to have been the epicentre but there may be residents from other streets fanning off it affected as well.

"If anyone else has been affected then they should get in touch.

"The real message is to the others who are suffering in silence is don't - come forward and lets have a discussion and see what we can do to help you too.

"No-one affected by this should suffer in silence or allow this company to get away with not making an appropriate payment of compensation to them."

He criticised Mactaggart and Mickel for failing to alert residents to plans for controlled explosions to excavate the area of the eco development.

Mr McGuire said: "They were carrying out an excavation as part of the eco village development and to do that they were using what can only loosely be termed, given what happened, controlled explosions to excavate.

"They did two terrible things - no notice was given to residents that this was going to happen at all and the explosions were certainly not controlled.

"You have yourself a situation where people are sitting in their homes and gardens getting on with their ordinary lives in a place where they ought to feel safe and don't expect to come under attack.

"Suddenly there is the sound of explosion and debris falling all about them. Some of the debris were boulders just raining down upon them.

"They were lucky to be alive. It is only luck and nothing to do with the systems put in place by the company that there were no deaths. We could just as easily be talking about one fatality or more.

"The stories we have heard from our clients are horrific.

"They have dragged their heels but it is good they have now recognised and have moved towards making payment."

A Mactaggart & Mickel Homes spokesperson said: "The majority of claims from the Eaglesham incident have now been processed by our subcontractor's insurers."

None of the residents wanted to discuss their compensation payouts but at the time Melissa Shannon, who was visiting her parents' home on Bonnyton Drive with her daughter Olivia, told the Evening Times she was violently shaken by an explosion.

The terrified 21-year-old said she thought a bomb had gone off - but was grateful that her five-year-old little girl was at school at the time.

Melissa said: "There was a bang and everything shook. The whole house started shaking. The windows at the back of the house smashed. I was so, so scared I didn't know what to do or what it was."

Resident Colin Roberston said rocks had damaged his car and come through the roof of his home.

The 55-year-old gas service engineer said they were lucky no-one was badly injured.

If you wish to make a claim call Thompsons on 0800 0 224 224 .

ends.