Couple plan to stay at home and ‘see what happens’ after giant sinkhole appears

A husband and wife who were evacuated from their house after a “massive” sinkhole appeared nearby said they have decided to return home and “see what happens”.

Police in Surrey evacuated a number of properties and a 100-metre cordon was put in place after the sinkhole appeared in the small village of Godstone on Monday night.

Surrey County Council has declared a major incident and local residents have been urged to avoid the area while repair work is being carried out.

Nicola and Damian Styles, 46 and 44, live on Godstone High Street and said they were woken up by police knocking on their door at about half past midnight on Tuesday morning, who told them to evacuate their home because there was a risk of a gas explosion.

“It was a shock,” Mrs Styles said.

“My sister lives in Purley so we just drove there in the middle of the night.”

Mr Styles said: “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.”

The couple came back to their home at around midday on Tuesday to pick up some items, but later decided to stay at their address.

Asked whether they believe they will have to evacuate again, Mr Styles said: “This is the thing now: we don’t know. And we’re kind of playing it by chance at the moment.

“They said that they’re trying their best but this thing is still eroding away because it’s getting bigger, so…”

Mrs Styles said: “No one’s organised the communications, or keeping the residents informed.

“They should have really given us a help desk number to call, or something.”

Mr Styles said they resorted to scouring social media for updates after they were told to leave their home.

He added: “Because when we left last night, we were like, ‘how do we know when it’s safe to come back?’, and he (the police officer) said ‘you can check the socials’.”

He added: “For the time being we’re just going to stay and see what happens.

“We’re just kind of hoping that, if there is an emergency, they’re going to knock on the door and tell us ‘you’ve got to go’.”

Alan and Tracey Jones, 75 and 61, who live on Godstone High Street, took in their daughter, her husband, and their baby girl at midnight on Tuesday after police told them to evacuate their flat across the road, whose building now stands on the edge of the sinkhole.

Mrs Jones said: “It’s an absolute nightmare. Dreadful.”

“They (the family) arrived at midnight – the police started to evacuate because there was a fear of a gas explosion.”

Mr Jones said: “It’s very concerning, and you know it’s a massive incident because of all the guys that are down here and all the utility companies are here.”

SES Water said one of its water main pipes had burst on the street, and packs of water bottles were distributed to locals on Tuesday night as their homes were left without running water.

“That’s the worst thing, you know”, Mr Jones said.

“The daughter and her husband have gone down to a friend in Whyteleafe to have a shower.

“But we’ve got no information whatsoever. Nothing at all.”

Kevin Boll, 62, who lives on one end of High Street, said he stayed up until 1am on Tuesday waiting for an update after police told him he may have to evacuate his home.

He said: “It was about quarter to midnight and we were all going to bed, and my stepdaughter was in the bathroom ready to shower and, literally, all the water went off: the shower, the toilet, and obviously the sink… All of a sudden.

“I realised there was a problem.

“I came down and there were police here, there were fire engines… Within minutes, they were here and there was a dirty great big hole in the floor up there. Massive.”

He added: “What did scare me is that I’ve seen the size of the hole, and what was going on out there, and I’ve seen the amount of services that were here.

“Houses were evacuated because I’ve heard from the police that there was a possibility of a gas explosion.

“They’re saying that they’re handling it – but it’s going to take a while. It’s a big job. It’s something massive to have happened.

“No one has seen this coming. No one has seen this coming at all. Not this massive sinkhole, when there’s brand new flats just adjacent to it as well.”

Carl Bussey, Surrey County council assistant director for Safer Communities and chairman of the Strategic Co-ordination Group for the incident, said on Tuesday night: “We are working together with emergency services and utility companies, as well as our highways colleagues and Tandridge District Council, to protect the public and property in the area.

“Investigations are continuing to make the area safe and to repair utilities, and we ask that people remain away from the vicinity while that important work is ongoing.

“We will keep people updated as the situation develops.

“Residents from within the cordon – around 30 properties – are being supported by Tandridge District Council with advice around accommodation.

“Highways diversions are also in place.

“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.”