Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 19, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 26, 2026
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A massive sinkhole in Godstone, Surrey, has led to the evacuation of 30 homes. Authorities are investigating the incident, which is on a former sand quarry site.
GODSTONE, England (Reuters) - A large sinkhole has appeared in a southern English village, swallowing up at least one garden and forcing authorities to evacuate residents from around 30 homes.
The development of the sinkhole in the Surrey village of Godstone, which appeared on Monday and had grown to at least 20 metres on Tuesday, has been declared a major incident by local agencies.
The BBC said the evacuated properties were built about three years ago, on the site of a former sand quarry. One of the residents, Noosh Miri, said her family was among those evacuated.
"We got a violent knocking on the door," Miri said. "As I opened the door, it sounded like I was in a waterfall because the sinkhole was right in front of my doorstep."
Another resident, Rez Mira, told the BBC his garden fell into the sinkhole: "It's collapsed, the wall will come down, for sure... we're terrified."
Surrey County Council (SCC) said investigations were ongoing, and asked people to avoid the area while work was carried out. Residents from within the cordon were being supported with advice around accommodation, the council said.
"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," said SCC's Carl Bussey.
SES Water said in the early hours of Tuesday it was aware of a burst water main pipe in Godstone High Street. It said on Wednesday it had been able to restore supplies to affected properties. Electricity has also been restored.
(Reporting by Toby Melville; Writing by Catarina Demony; Editing by Kate Holton)
The article discusses a large sinkhole in Godstone, Surrey, causing evacuations.
A sinkhole appeared, swallowing a garden and threatening homes, leading to evacuations.
Local agencies declared it a major incident and are investigating the cause.
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