Up to 22 residents could be evacuated from a coastal village while work is carried out to prevent a landslide from a cliff cutting off the only access road to the area.

A section of the cliff above Pennan village near Fraserburgh could be removed after a 25-metre crack appeared but such an operation is likely to take several days because the access road is steep and narrow.

The only road into the village on the Moray coast, which was featured in the film Local Hero, has been closed to everyone except residents.

Aberdeenshire Council said work to reduce the risk of a landslip on the access road could begin on Saturday.

Engineers, who arrived in the area yesterday, will also continue assessments today on the cliff.

The area was being monitored after heavy rain raised concerns of a potential landslide.

Iain Gabriel, Aberdeenshire Council's Director of Transportation and Infrastructure, said: "It is not safe or practical to tackle these works from the top, so we will need to access it at a lower level.

"These works would restrict access to and from the village for up to a week, so we have had initial discussions with the residents concerned to raise this as a possibility."

A total of 22 people from 12 households would be affected during the works.

The village was previously hit by a major mudslide in 2007 when some residents were evacuated and local homes were damaged.

The cracked cliff is to the left on the road leading to the village and is not near at the same site as the 2007 landslide.

Pennan and its red phone box became famous when it featured in Bill Forsyth's Bafta-winning Local Hero, which was made in 1983.

The film tells the story of an oil billionaire who wants to build a refinery in a Scottish coastal village.

An Aberdeenshire Council spokesman said: "It is not believed that there is any risk to properties at Pennan as the current issue is not related to landslips which occurred in the village two years ago."