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Writer's pictureSafer Highways

Giant sinkhole opens up in middle of road and swallows car as police forced to close road


CCTV footage shows the sinkhole started off small, before gradually growing and engulfing a black Skoda - leaving the elderly driver 'shaken', although no one was injured

A huge sinkhole opened up on a busy street and swallowed up a car.

Police and highways staff rushed to the road in Nottinghamshire on Saturday morning and quickly shut off the scene.


CCTV footage shows the hole started off small, before gradually growing and engulfing a black Skoda.

The road remains closed, with a collapsed sewer pipe causing the sinkhole.


Russell Gull, the owner of nearby Res Barbers, helped the trapped driver out of his car.

He said: "The first thing I noticed was a man warning us there was a pothole. One car went round it but the next just drove straight ahead and dove right in.


"We helped the guy out. He was elderly but seemed okay, just a bit shaken."


No one was injured in the incident.


Tom Oxley, 78, who lives in nearby Carlton but grew up in the area, said: "My son-in-law in Lincoln heard about it this morning so we've come to have a look.


"I've been talking to the people on the scene and they've said the hole is 12 feet deep.


"I use this road regularly myself to go the gym, but with the hole now you can actually see the thickness of the road and it doesn't look very thick, especially when you consider some of the bigger vehicles that will be going over this."


Jo Appleby, 45, who lives in Worksop, said: "It must have been terrifying for the people in the car to realise that there was this huge hole right underneath them.


"I feel really sorry for them as well because this car is probably their pride and joy.


"I do think the roads are in a bad state at the moment and they've been getting worse over the past few months.

"I know that there has been some bad weather so that may not have helped."


A Severn Trent spokesperson said: "We're incredibly sorry for the disruption and issues that's been caused by a collapsed sewer pipe on Carlton Road.


"For the safety of everyone, we have closed a section of the road as our engineers work.

"This is a complex repair that requires careful planning, but it will be our absolute priority to get the pipe fixed, and everything put back to normal as quickly, and safely as possible.


"Again, we're really sorry for the inconvenience that's been caused."


The county council tweeted on Sunday lunchtime: "Worksop sinkhole update. We've put a closure in place on Carlton Road, Worksop to keep the road safe following a collapse in the carriageway."

Traffic monitoring site Inrix states: "Carlton Road in both directions closed due to a sinkhole in the road between Overend Road and Victoria Square."

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