Huge sinkhole appears in high street causing closure

Buildings have been evacuated and part of a high street in Surrey has been closed after a large sinkhole emerged.

Police have closed Godstone High Street between Oxted Road and Bletchingley Road.

A 100m (328ft) cordon has also been put in place.

The road is likely to remain closed for an extended period of time, police said.

A small number of buildings have been evacuated as a precaution while the emergency services respond, they added.

BBC Radio Surrey reporter Adrian Harms said the sinkhole was at least 19m (62ft) long and about 3m (10ft) wide.

“I’ve been here for about an hour and a half, and on a couple of occasions I’ve heard some cracking and seen the hole getting bigger,” he said.

“It’s filled with water so there’s no real telling how far down it goes.”

He added: “If you think of a scene from an earthquake where the road is buckled and the pavement’s buckled, that’s exactly what it’s like here.”

“Please avoid the area and use alternative routes,” a Surrey Highways spokesperson said.

SES Water said it was aware of a burst water main in Godstone High Street in the early hours of Tuesday morning, which was affecting water supply to homes in the area.

Teams had been deployed to carry out urgent work, a spokesperson for the company said.

“We’re really sorry for the disruption this is causing and are doing all we can to resolve the situation as quickly as possible,” they said.

Robin Sherry said he and and his family were evacuated from their home in William Way at about 00:30 GMT on Tuesday by police, who told him “to get out as quick as possible” over fears of an explosion caused by exposed cables.

“I booked a hotel down the road, but I know some people stayed in their car and some people went to families,” he said.

Local resident Paul Whelan described how quickly the sinkhole developed, after pictures were initially posted on social media at about 23:00 on Monday.

“A hole maybe a couple of feet across started up,” he told BBC Radio Surrey. “Now it’s grown quite a lot after the burst water main.

“It’s made a real mess. It’s going to take a few hours work to sort this out.”

Another neighbour, Mel Henderson, said: “The water was everywhere. It’s flooded the drains, and the ground was all flooded.”

Her husband added: “Even standing here for half an hour last night you could see it was getting worse, and it’s a lot bigger this morning.

“We’ve no water for the next few days I think.”

Josh Neame was also evacuated, having only moved into his property six days earlier, and spent the night sleeping in his car parked by the local green.

“They’ve just let me in now” he said, “over my shoulder is a bag of toiletries, pants and socks to get me through.

“I don’t know what’s going to come from here, no-one can give me any info. They said it could be up to a week before we’re back in. I don’t think they know what state the mains gas and electric’s in, so it was risk of explosion, fire, collapse.

“My life’s still in boxes, I hadn’t even unpacked from the house move.

“Not what you wanted on a Monday night.”

Neighbour Leslie Burnett said there was a system of caves below many of the houses.

She said: “Nobody knows quite how far they go, but every so often holes appear.”

Matt Furniss, Surrey County Council’s cabinet member for highways, said by 09:30 on Tuesday the hole had grown to 20m (65ft) by 6m (20ft).

“At this stage, we’re working with the utility companies. Our key aim at the moment is to secure the sight and make it safe,” he said.