Villagers evacuated after 65ft-wide sinkhole swallowed their avenue say it is ‘probably the most pleasure we have seen in ages’

Homeowners evacuated after a sinkhole swallowed their street have been allowed to return – with one resident exclaiming it’s ‘the most excitement’ the village has seen in recent times.

The sinkhole – estimated to be 62ft long and 10ft wide – appeared in Godstone High Street, Surrey, on Monday night, with SES Water later announcing one of its water main pipes had burst underneath the road.

Residents from 30 properties were evacuate as a 100-metre cordon was put in place and a major incident was declared.

A second sinkhole, thought to be linked to the first, appeared in a property’s front garden on Tuesday afternoon. 

On Friday, Catherine Sayer, leader of Tandridge District Council, said that six of the previously evacuated households had been permitted to return to their homes following safety assessments.

Since the evacuations, local authorities have faced criticism from those living and working in the area regarding a lack of information on when residents would be allowed back home and support for businesses.

Ms Sayer previously said she was ‘very sorry’ if anyone felt let down by the level of support from the local authority, adding the council had been ‘doing their best’ to keep residents informed.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Sarah Lewis, who lives on William Way and was evacuated along with her two daughters aged four and six, said she felt ‘extremely stressed’ about the uncertainty surrounding when she may be allowed back to their house.

The 36-year-old said the council had told her it could be between two to four months until the family may be able to return home and that they are currently staying in an Airbnb. 

Ifesi Anyamene, 50, who owns a pharmacy in Godstone High Street near the edge of the cordoned-off roads, said on Thursday that her business had received many calls from customers who were ‘scared and worried’ about whether it was safe to collect their medicine.

‘We’ve had to reassure people that it’s safe,’ she added.

Dana Hussein, 39, who owns a barber shop on Godstone High Street, said he was ‘worried’ about the impact of the sinkhole on his business and that, so far this week, he has only had a few customers as people are staying away from the area.

‘If that road was closed for three to six months, it would affect our business because we would lose all the customers for six months.’

However, one villager Andy Dancer told the Times: ‘This is the most excitement there’s been in our village for a long time.’  

On Thursday morning, Matt Furniss, the cabinet member for highways, transport and economic growth at the county council, said properties surrounding the sinkhole have been declared stable for now and that the investigation into the incident “may take months”. 

He said: ‘We are starting borehole investigations today. We cannot estimate a timescale for return but will keep residents updated. It may take months.’

Mr Furniss also addressed fears that an explosion may occur due to exposed cables, saying: ‘All utilities have been capped around the site so no concerns there.’ 

He confirmed a second sinkhole appeared in a property’s front garden on Tuesday afternoon, which is thought to be linked to the first one.

Pictures showed a car teetering on the edge of the hole with its wheels just a few inches away from the eroded tarmac.

Mr Furniss added: ‘The car won’t be moved until it is deemed safe to do so.’

He also told the BBC it is believed the second nearby hole had been created by ‘water finding a route from the first one downhill’.

‘It’s within the cordon area. The area hasn’t been growing, so we just need to do the investigations,’ the councillor told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

‘We don’t know what’s caused the water pipe to break and effectively create the sinkhole at this point.

‘That’s what the borehole testing and the investigation will look into. What we do know is that it is currently stable. Surrey Highways will then be looking to find a solution to rebuild.’

Asked whether the ground in the area was ‘dodgy’ and ill-suited for building, Mr Furniss told the BBC: ‘Potentially. But we do have those new technologies that can stabilise ground, which quite successfully, and we’ve done a number of those in Surrey itself.

‘The borehole testing, which we’re doing today, will show us what is going on under the ground, and we can just review the entire structure around the sinkhole and then take steps to rebuild.’

Meanwhile, locals have been urged to register for information and updates on the sinkhole at the youth centre in Godstone.

‘Most of the residents have been self-evacuated, so they are dealing through either family, friends or their insurance companies. And we will let them back as soon as we deem it safe,’ Mr Furniss said:

‘These investigations we’re doing as quickly as possible, but we do have to do it safely, and that’s the key point that we’re just emphasising.’

Carl Bussey, Surrey County Council assistant director for safer communities – and chair of the strategic co-ordination group for the incident, said: ‘The site continues to be assessed by structural experts, in order to manage the risk and understand what needs to be done to make safe and repair.’

Tandridge District Council urged people to ‘please avoid the area’ and said the road into Godstone from the A25 is closed and diversions are in place.

Local resident Simon Marnus, 56, said: ‘Over the last few years, especially with the increase in traffic and new development, it (the sinkhole) was inevitable.

‘The road has noticeably subsided over the last three or four years, and it was going to happen, sadly.’

Janet Kay, 77, who was unable to attend her dentist appointment in the village due to the ongoing repair work, said: ‘I feel sorry for the people with shops and the people who have bought these homes.

‘How long are the shop owners not going to be able to open for? And would you buy those people’s homes?’

Garage owner Shane Fry, 34, who runs DD Services Ltd car repair shop, said the decision to close the road was causing him a ‘headache’, and the company has ‘lost business during the day as nobody is driving past with their cars’.

He said that some customers have ‘decided to try and wait out the storm to see if it’s going to get any easier’ to have their vehicles repaired – and highlighted the logistical challenges he has faced trying to keep the garage open.

‘We are having to meet our customers down the road and drive them up ourselves, it means that we are getting our steps in,’ he explained.

‘My main priority is to make sure we can carry on working. We have staff that rely on wages, I’ve got bills to pay, and they’ve got bills to pay – maybe it’s a bit selfish when people have been kicked out of their homes, but we’ve got our own bills to pay as well.’

He added: ‘We just need someone to take responsibility for it because the moment someone starts taking responsibility, we will start getting answers.’ 

Engineers who had worked through the night to restore water supplies were thanked by Claire Coutinho, the MP for Godstone.

In a Facebook post, she said: ‘A huge thank you to all the engineers who have been working through the night to restore water supply after the sinkhole in Godstone.

‘It has been wonderful to see the whole community come together to support one another.

‘Now that the first round of repairs is complete, we will be in regular contact with Tandridge District Council and Surrey County Council to ensure that those who have been evacuated receive the necessary support in the coming days and weeks.

‘We are also pushing for SCC to provide a timeline for the next stage of repairs.’

On Wednesday, SES Water said the restored supplies may appear discoloured – but there was no risk to health.

A spokesman, who said some customers would receive compensation in their bills, added: ‘Due to the potential disturbance of sediment in the water mains your water may be discoloured, or you may notice a change in the taste, odour or colour.

‘Please be assured there are no health risks associated with drinking this water.’  

The incident prompted a rapid response from the emergency services to evacuate families, amid fears properties could start toppling into the holes.

Noosh Miri and her loved ones were among those ordered to flee. ‘We got a violent knocking on the door. As I opened the door, it sounded like I was in a waterfall because the sinkhole was right in front of my doorstep,’ she told the BBC.

‘The policewoman told us we needed to get out straight away, and in the space of 10 minutes, we got the kids dressed, we grabbed the nearest things that we could find.’

Ms Miri is now sheltering in temporary accommodation found by their insurers. 

However, she said the family was bracing themselves to remain out of their home for ‘a good couple of months’ while emergency crews deal with the two sinkholes.

Nicola and Damian Styles, who live on the affected street, said they were woken up by police knocking on their door and telling them to evacuate in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

‘We just sort of grabbed everything, the clothes on our back and our work laptops, and drove out quickly.

‘We didn’t know how long we were going to be out for.’

Another resident, Tracey Jones, says the situation has been ‘an absolute nightmare’.

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.

‘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 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.’

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.’

The emergency comes amid a reported rise in the number of sinkholes ripping through streets across Britain.

Experts have blamed a rise in stormy weather and some of Britain’s ageing drainage system for causing leaks that lead to holes forming.

Martin Lambley, global product manager for Urban Climate Resilience at Wavin told MailOnline: ‘The recent increase in sinkholes across Britain serves as a stark reminder of how vulnerable our urban environments are to the forces of nature, particularly as climate change drives more frequent and intense rainfall.

‘Extreme weather is placing increasing pressure on drainage systems, many of which were built in the Victorian era and not equipped to handle the volumes of water we now experience. When excess rainwater isn’t managed properly, it can seep into the ground, destabilising the soil, which leads to sinkholes.

‘As we continue to develop urban areas, we’re making the landscape less permeable, which reduces the ground’s ability to absorb water. To address this, we need to prioritise sustainable drainage systems that manage water more effectively, storing it and releasing it back into the environment in a controlled way.

‘By echoing the natural water cycle, we can prevent erosion, reduce the risk of sinkholes and most importantly, make our urban spaces more resilient to the effects of extreme weather.’

‘Ultimately, we need to rethink how we handle water if we’re to avoid the devastating consequences that sinkholes and other issues bring.’