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.
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.
“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.”