UPDATE: At least two days to fix Midhurst sinkhole

Midhurst’s Bepton Road is likely to remain closed until tomorrow afternoon due to a giant sinkhole.

This morning, West Sussex County Council tweeted that it and Southern Water were ‘working to resolve the situation as quickly as possible’ but the ‘depth of the void’ makes unlikely the road will open until then ‘at the earliest’.

The hole, which is suspected to be due to a water leak, was first reported to police at around 2.30pm yesterday afternoon.

By 4pm, the sinkhole had opened up to half a lane’s width, with the road closed to traffic for emergency repairs. Cars can still get access via Pertoria Avenue.

Resident Tina Litchfield, who sent in this picture, said: “You could see a layer of tarmac only about eight inches thick and a huge cavern underneath, big enough to contain a small car.”

Video footage taken yesterday by Katen Read.

Did you see what happened? Email midhurst@jpress.co.uk

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