A large sinkhole has appeared in a southern English village, swallowing up at least one garden and forcing authorities to evacuate residents from around 30 homes.
The development of the sinkhole in the Surrey village of Godstone, which appeared on Monday and had grown to at least 20 meters on Tuesday, has been declared a major incident by local agencies.
According to reports, the evacuated properties were built about three years ago, on the site of a former sand quarry.
Surrey County Council (SCC) said investigations were ongoing, and asked people to avoid the area while work was carried out.
Residents from within the cordon were being supported with advice around accommodation, the council said.
"The Local Resilience Forum will continue to meet throughout this incident to ensure everything is being done to resolve the situation as quickly and safely as possible," said SCC's Carl Bussey.
SES Water said in the early hours of Tuesday it was aware of a burst water main pipe in Godstone High Street. It said yesterday that it had been able to restore supplies to affected properties. Electricity has also been restored.
