Network of abandoned Victorian tunnels discovered 26ft under giant sinkhole that opened up on ordinary-looking street
A GIANT sink hole has revealed an underground network of Victorian mining tunnels.
Engineers working at the site, on Godstone High Street in Surrey, were shocked when they stumbled upon the discovery.
8
8
8
The huge collapse, which rocked the local community in February, has unearthed eerie eight-meter deep abandoned tunnels.
Experts who are repairing the street say these sand mining networks may hold the key to what caused the sinkhole.
But residents in the area claim they have been "left in the dark" over when construction will be complete, as reported by the BBC.
Businesses in the area also continue to be negatively impacted by the major collapse.
Local authorities shared their hopes the road would be reopened by December this year.
Lloyd Allen, infrastructure manager at Surrey County Council, said: "Currently, we're investigating the Victorian tunnels, plotting them to see the extent of them and where they go.
"We'll likely be finished by the early part of December, but there's a lot of reconnecting services and redoing water mains, gas mains and electric cables."
Mr Allen added how the tunnels "puts one of the pieces into place" over why the sinkhole unfolded.
Although there are still "several scenarios" that have been put forward about the cause.
Shane Fry, who runs a garage on the high street, told the BBC the sinkhole has slashed his profits by a third.
"They said they would keep us up to date, but this hasn't happened," he said.
"We need to know. It will benefit everyone in the area."
Meanwhile, Will McLean, owner of a residential windows and doors company claimed the disaster has "reduced footfall to virtually zero".
And coffee shop owner Sami Bristow, shared how her income is down about 20% compared to last year.
8
8
8
"It has been hard-hitting especially with inflation and all the other things that small businesses are having to cope with," she added.
Matt Furniss, cabinet member for highways at Surrey County Council, said: "Our focus will be on ensuring the road is safe to use, so the exact date will be confirmed once we are fully assured of this."
Catherine Sayer, Tandridge District Council leader, added: "Things are moving as fast as they can.
"The key thing is to get everything back to normal as quickly as possible."
Locals have been allowed back into their homes after a risk assessment deemed it safe to do so.
Christine Duncan, 57, who has lived in her home just outside the cordon for over two decades, says she is still in shock at what has happened.
She said: "My husband was down the pub and saw a trickle of water. Then the sinkhole just suddenly appeared.
"I have lived here for 24 years, and I have never seen anything like this before. I am still in shock. I can't make heads or tails of it.
"I think it is to do with the amount of lorries that drive through here. We are only a small village.
Is your property at risk from a sinkhole?
There are thousands of natural sinkholes, also known as dolines, in the UK, particularly in the upland areas of northern England, according to the British Geological Survey.
By and large, these are not actively subsiding, but occasionally new sinkholes form, particularly after heavy rain.
Built up areas can be at risk and it is believed sinkholes are becoming more common in the UK, partly due to extreme rainfall, which scientists have linked to climate change.
Dr Andrew Farrant of the BGS, says: 'By their very nature, collapse features caused by burst pipes or collapsed infrastructure are mostly likely to occur in built up areas or beneath roads, and could happen in other areas with similar geology and aging infrastructure.
'Many recent sinkholes have been caused by collapses of old sewers or culverts, such as the sinkhole near Merthyr Tydfil last December.
'There have been other recent instances of sinkholes due to flushing out of sands and weak sandstones, for example the sinkhole that closed Storrington High Street last October.'
"I am very worried about how long it is going to take to fix the road. My main concern is that there are a lot of vulnerable people around here and there is a care home just down the road."
Graham Brookes, 94, has lived in his nearby home for nine years - but says he has been involved in the area for decades.
He agreed that the main worry is for older people who will have to walk a long way to get around the cordon.
He added: "We realised something was wrong because the water pressure was down. Then we found out what had happened and realised how lucky we were to still have water.
"It is not going to be an easy job to fix. It will affect everyone coming into Godstone.
"The village will be very badly impacted by this. But we will get through it. It will mainly effect older people because they will have to walk all the way around.
"The local businesses will also be hit hard as they can't get vans in.
"It has already impacted the amount of people around. I went to the supermarket earlier and the car park was half empty when it is normally packed."
Paul Ryan, 53, has lived in his home on the High Street for nine years.
He said: "For the first 24 hours it was a major inconvenience. I was quite surprised, but this has been on the cards for a while.
"The locals have been worried for a while about the HGVs going through the village. They use this road as a bypass to the M25 and come down at 60mph."
A 40-year-old local, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "We were without water for a considerable amount of time.
"We thought that water would be delivered to us but instead we had to go to a water station.
"Our water finally came back on at about 3am this morning.
"It is a very scary situation. The sinkhole is huge so we are quite worried that we are going to be evacuated.
"The sinkhole will probably get even bigger which is terrifying. It is just a very upsetting time."
8
8
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
36 minutes ago
- Telegraph
‘We can't sell our £400k Dorset beach huts – and it's the council's fault'
The owners of Britain's most expensive beach huts have blamed the council for making the properties less desirable to potential buyers. Eight wooden huts with a combined value of £3.8 million have gone up for sale at Mudeford Spit in Christchurch Harbour, Dorset. The huts range in price from £395,000 to £439,000 – more than the average UK house price. The properties often sell extremely quickly because of their exclusive location and sea views. Last year, one sold for £485,000 in less than 24 hours. The unusually high number currently on the market has prompted concerns that the tide may be turning on a once lucrative market. Financially-struggling Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council (BCP) has been accused of using beach hut owners as 'cash cows'. The annual hut licence fee has increased by 30 per cent in the past two years to £3,240, with another 5 per cent rise planned for next year. This is in addition to the £23,100 transfer fee. Stephen Bath, who owns one of the 346 huts at Mudeford, said: 'The council uses the beach huts as a cash cow because they are in dire financial circumstances. 'I think that's what's caused people to try to sell up, hereditary owners who can't afford the rent hikes. 'The council are getting cheeky – they don't care who's paying the rent. Plus people who have bought more recently, out of towners, are also thinking it is getting ridiculous. It costs more to stay at the beach than it would to stay at somewhere like Claridge's.' Earlier this month, BCP warned it would be forced to issue a section 114 notice, a formal declaration of effective bankruptcy, without more direction from the Government on how to tackle the severe cash flow crisis associated with its growing special educational needs and disability deficit. Richard Herrett, the council's portfolio holder for leisure and destination, said the rental income for its beach huts enable it to reinvest in 'crucial front-line services that residents rely on each day – such as adult social care and children's services'. The council said the five-year pricing structure, introduced in 2022, simplified the service 'allowing everyone to know the annual cost of beach huts until 2027/28'. He added: 'Despite increasing financial constraints which many local authorities face, as a result of national pressures, the council has remained committed to that transparent pricing strategy and will do so into the future.'
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
High street giant launches 20% off ‘everything must go' sale ahead of store shutting for good in just weeks
A HUGE high street giant has launched a mega sale with just weeks left until the store shuts up shop for good. Locals have been left disappointed as the popular retailer is due to close down in just a matter of weeks, it has announced. 1 The GAME shop in Victoria Centre, Nottingham, will close its doors next month. The video game retailer has put up clearance signs in the windows announcing that all stock must go before it winds down. The store has operated at Victoria Centre for a number of years but will cease trading on July 17, according to the shop window signs. The notice also says that all stocks must go with 20% of most items. But video game fans shouldn't panic just yet as there is a House of Fraser opposite the store which has a GAME section and is under the same ownership. The Frasers Group acquired GAME in 2019 as part of a £52 million deal. GAME sells a variety of video games, consoles and pop culture merchandise. But the closure comes as the retailer has shut a number of its locations across the UK in recent months. Some have been converted into concessions within Sports Direct and other Frasers Group stores. Following Frasers Group acquiring GAME in 2019, significant restructuring and downsizing of the video game retailer has commenced. While plans don't indicate that the stores will disappear from the British high street completely many locations are expected to close. GAME, in Festival Place, Basingstoke, will be holding a 20 per cent off everything closing down sale before shutting up shop for good on August 10. As with the Nottingham branch, no reason has been given for the retailers abrupt departure from the shopping centre. But elsewhere in the Victoria Centre, other outlets have recently undergone significant refurbishments. Why are so many shops going bust? The HMV store opened a new store in April after a new revamp. What's happening to GAME? Game was acquired by billionaire businessman Mike Ashley's Frasers Group in 2019 as part of a £52million deal. However, by January 2020, the retailer announced plans to close 40 of its more than 300 stores across the UK. Today, there are approximately 240 Game stores operating nationwide. This decline comes amid a significant drop in sales of physical video games, compared to Game's heyday in the early 2000s. The Digital Entertainment and Retail Association (ERA) revealed that in 2022, nearly 90 per cent of all video games sold in the UK were digital downloads. Why are retailers closing stores? RETAILERS have been feeling the squeeze since the pandemic, while shoppers are cutting back on spending due to the soaring cost of living crisis. High energy costs and a move to shopping online after the pandemic are also taking a toll, and many high street shops have struggled to keep going. However, additional costs have added further pain to an already struggling sector. The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury's hike to employer NICs from April will cost the retail sector £2.3billion. At the same time, the minimum wage will rise to £12.21 an hour from April, and the minimum wage for people aged 18-20 will rise to £10 an hour, an increase of £1.40. The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has also warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year. It comes on the back of a tough 2024 when 13,000 shops closed their doors for good, already a 28% increase on the previous year. Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the CRR said: "The results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025." It comes after almost 170,000 retail workers lost their jobs in 2024. End-of-year figures compiled by the Centre for Retail Research showed the number of job losses spiked amid the collapse of major chains such as Homebase and Ted Baker. It said its latest analysis showed that a total of 169,395 retail jobs were lost in the 2024 calendar year to date. This was up 49,990 – an increase of 41.9% – compared with 2023. It is the highest annual reading since more than 200,000 jobs were lost in 2020 in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced retailers to shut their stores during lockdowns. The centre said 38 major retailers went into administration in 2024, including household names such as Lloyds Pharmacy, Homebase, The Body Shop, Carpetright and Ted Baker. Around a third of all retail job losses in 2024, 33% or 55,914 in total, resulted from administrations. Experts have said small high street shops could face a particularly challenging 2025 because of Budget tax and wage changes. Professor Bamfield has warned of a bleak outlook for 2025, predicting that as many as 202,000 jobs could be lost in the sector. "By increasing both the costs of running stores and the costs on each consumer's household it is highly likely that we will see retail job losses eclipse the height of the pandemic in 2020."
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Premier League contact Chelsea over Boehly ticket website
The Premier League have written to Chelsea to seek clarification over the club's position with ticket re-sellers - amid controversy over Todd Boehly's involvement in Vivid Seats. Boehly is both a director and investor in Vivid, described as an "unauthorised ticket seller" by the league, and also owns a 13% stake in Chelsea. The website lists Chelsea matches on its platform, with some tickets last season at Stamford Bridge going for as much as £20,000. It is not allowed to operate in the United Kingdom, although is permissible overseas. Chelsea Supporters' Trust asked the Premier League to "act and investigate" the situation which they believe is both a "breach of trust and "a clear conflict of interest" in an open letter issued in March. Premier League CEO Richard Masters has explained they are discussing the matter with Chelsea in a situation described as "ongoing" at a Football Supporters' Association event last week. The Supporters' Trust has also submitted evidence against the American company to the government's Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).Boehly, Chelsea and Vivid have been contacted for further comment. Vivid CEO Stanley Chia is quoted by Sportico , externalas saying "economic and political volatility" has impacted the ticketing market as the company's share price fell by 61% this have recently pledged to take action on ticket touting, although without naming Vivid or other ticket re-sellers, which the CST letter said it was "encouraged" by. There have been concerns about a "flat" atmosphere at Stamford Bridge, highlighted by previous manager Mauricio Pochettino and echoed by current head coach Enzo Maresca at times last season, amid trials of a singing section in the Conference are currently participating in the Club World Cup in the United States and next face ES Tunis in Philadelphia on Tuesday night.
