Huge sinkhole appears in high street

Buildings have been evacuated and part of a high street in Surrey has been closed after a large sink hole 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," he said, "and on a couple of occasions I've heard some cracking and seen the hole getting bigger.

"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, an SES Water spokesperson 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.

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

Meanwhile, her husband said: "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."

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 GMT 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.