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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Eleanor Maslin & Charlie Duffield

Villagers fear they'll be 'trapped' by ever-widening sinkhole that's 15ft deep

Stressed residents in an isolated village say they are becoming "trapped" in their homes because of an ever widening sinkhole.

For the past month people living in Anderby Creek, close to Skegness, have seen the chasm grow, blocking the entrance to their lane.

They have demanded action before the problem gets even worse, Lincolnshire Live reports.

Recently Anglian Water visited the lane and said the sinkhole was caused by several large badgers closeby, after finding that sewers were in good working condition.

Nearby resident and vice chair of Anderby Parish Council Dave Wood initially saw the sinkhole on Sunday November 20, and then called Anglian Water.

Worried residents in a remote Lincolnshire village are calling for 'something to be done' about a sinkhole which has developed along their private access lane (Dave Wood)
The sink hole is about 15 feet long and 15 foot deep (Dave Wood)

He recalls that it was about 15 feet long and 15 foot deep.

He added: "We've had a couple of people, especially elderly, saying they won’t drive near it.

"I drive past it but I take it very steadily. If someone did get stuck it would be a hell of a job to get people out.

"The biggest issue is safety at the moment. If something goes down it we will be in a right mess.

"I feel like people will be trapped and not able to do anything. Isolation is a problem anyway with a lot of elderly people down here - it's worrying."

The lane is used as an access route for around 30 residents who live down it.

So it's used by bin lorries and Amazon deliveries as well as residents using their cars frequently due to it being a remote village.

Karl Skaise, 59, a nearby resident who is having an extension done on his house, said: "We are having difficulties getting materials here.

"You have to run over someone's grass verge [to avoid the sinkhole] which is sheer mud.

"A delivery van was spinning yesterday [Monday, December 5] and he just couldn’t deliver so he didn’t come.

"It could have been there for years but has all of a sudden collapsed. Something needs to be done rather than just waiting and waiting. It's an accident waiting to happen."

Anglian Water recently visited the lane and said the sinkhole was caused by a large number of badgers (Dave Wood)

Mr Wood said he was issuing a "plea to the badger-loving community to help", as no one wants to harm the badgers but the sinkhole has presented a "dilemma" to the residents.

He said: "Badgers can dig through just about anything you put in front of them and have tunnels of 50m in all directions.

"Another irony is it's a national coastal path. If people go down there at night they could seriously hurt themselves."

An Anglian Water spokesperson said: "We recently received a call from a concerned resident about a sinkhole on Sandy Lane in Anderby Creek.

"Upon investigation, CCTV revealed that the sewers are in good working condition and it has since been discovered that the damage has been caused by a large number of badgers.

"This is a private road, meaning the responsibility of any repairs lie with the residents.

"To ensure the health and safety of our customers and our teams, we have laid metal plates over the hole as a provisional safety measure.

"We are now discussing next steps with the residents impacted and agreeing a timescale to safely remove the metal plates.

"We’d like to thank local residents for their patience while we carried out our work to investigate the problem."

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