Road remains closed after Maidstone sinkhole left more than 50 without water

KentOnline / KMTV

The road is being repaired but it's left locals worried it could happen again as it's not the first sinkhole in the area.

Transcript

00:00 Maidstone residents awoke to a rather big problem on Monday morning.

00:07 A two-metre deep sinkhole had appeared overnight, leaving more than 50 South East Water customers

00:13 without water or with low pressure.

00:15 The Farley Lane junction will remain closed for several days until the road has been repaired

00:20 and is safe once again.

00:22 One resident was left without water for several hours, and despite being on the priority list

00:27 as a wheelchair user, he said he wasn't handed out any bottles of water.

00:32 Were you without water for long?

00:34 Must have been sort of seven-ish in the morning.

00:38 I noticed it was back on about three, four o'clock, so it was a good few hours.

00:43 It wasn't too bad for me because I only drink water anyway, so I got loads of bottled water.

00:48 It hasn't made that much difference to me because I don't really go anywhere when I do,

00:51 I'm on my wheelchair anyway.

00:53 But it's going to affect a lot of people that use it as a shortcut coming up to Christmas.

00:57 You just get used to it around here.

00:59 There seems to be sinkholes all the time.

01:01 South East Water said they had started their deliveries of bottled water to customers on

01:05 the Priority Services Register when the leak was first found.

01:09 But once the repair work had started at 12.30, all customers had their supplies restored,

01:14 so their deliveries ceased shortly after this, before they were able to deliver to every

01:19 customer on the register.

01:21 They're working to complete repairs to the road's surface, and say they'll work as quickly

01:25 and safely as possible to complete the repair.

01:28 Well, you're joining me from a very wet, rainy and miserable Maidstone, but these are actually

01:33 the ideal weather conditions for sinkholes to form.

01:35 Because what happens is this rainwater gets underneath the surface and starts dissolving

01:39 away some of that sand until this is what you're left with, a big hole in the ground.

01:44 But if this rain continues in Maidstone, is this going to be a reoccurring problem we're

01:48 seeing more often?

01:50 Locals say this isn't the first sinkhole they've seen.

01:53 Two years ago, one opened up along Tunbridge Road, and in 2020 there were four incidents

01:59 alone.

02:00 We did have a very big sinkhole at the top of the road, which took quite a long time

02:06 to mend.

02:07 And I think what the residents will be saying is, "OK, we've got our water, thank goodness

02:11 for that, but how long will it take to mend this sinkhole?"

02:16 One thing they were saying was they've got to be very careful not to hit the electric

02:20 cables.

02:21 Obviously, we don't want to be out of power over Christmas.

02:24 We can just hope to God that it doesn't happen under somebody's house.

02:30 As a result of this sinkhole, Gatland Lane will remain shut until Thursday evening at

02:34 five, while maintenance works are carried out.

02:37 Sophia Akin for KMTV in Maidstone.

02:40 maize stone.

02:40 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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