Drain collapse as hole appears in road

08/05/2008

POLICE were forced to close a road in a residential area of Whitley Bay on Tuesday after a hole appeared.

It was just after 4pm as Lorna Morgan was visiting her son's house in Valley Gardens when she was alerted by schoolchildren to the hole which was more than half a metre across and about four foot deep.

She said: "I couldn't believe the size of it.

"It just appeared out of nowhere – we didn't hear a thing.

"I was just telling the kids not to go near it and my husband called the police."

A police officer who attended the scene said it was a collapsed storm drain.

"It happens every now and again due to the age of the drains, and possibly because of all the wet weather we have had recently," said Pc Thomas Dryden.

A spokesman from North Tyneside Council said: "The hole has been made safe.

"We are working with Northumbria Water to establish the cause and once this has been established, work will commence to rectify the problem as soon as possible."

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Last Updated: 07 May 2008 2:45 PM

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