Residents could be out of their homes 'for a year'

Residents of a Surrey village where two large sinkholes have opened up have been told it could be up to a year before they are all able to return to their properties.

Residents and businesses of Godstone have attended a meeting on Tuesday evening made up of a panel of Surrey Police, SES Water, Godstone Parish Council, Tandridge District Council and Surrey County Council.

Lloyd Allen, from Surrey Highways on behalf of SCC, told the meeting that work has already begun to investigate why the sinkhole has occurred and surveys of the land below will take place.

Two households who were evacuated due to the collapse in the road remain in emergency accommodation.

People who were at the meeting were angry at SES Water, who provide the supply to the east Surrey village.

After the sinkhole occurred, two of the three pipes that supplied the village were broken.

The water firm said that water supplies had been restored to all the houses that currently have occupants.

But some residents, who said they were on the SES Water emergency list, said they did not get a response.

One man in the meeting said he called the water company twice and could not get through.

He said he was fortunate enough to be able to drive to a water station but other people were not.

The water company also apologised for some incorrect communications which were put out.

The water company's spokeswomen at the meeting said that "safety is our top priority".

Diego Silva said he has had to sleep in three different properties in the last four nights.

He has been evacuated from his property and is staying with friends at the moment.

He told BBC South East the whole thing had been a "nightmare".

He said spending a night in a Travelodge with his wife and baby "wasn't ideal".

"We have been contacted by the building's insurance company who said they could help us but only for six weeks initially - which isn't ideal as we have just heard it could a year until it is fixed," Mr Silva said.

"We just need some sustainability. We can't be moving every two weeks."

Sarah Lewis, who was one of the people evacuated from her property, said she has been working to try and secure other people accommodation.

She said: "I have an insurance who said they will cover for the duration of how long this goes on for.

"I have contacted three Airbnb owners and after finding out how much the council were paying for hotels, I managed to get those airbnb owners to match the hotel's prices.

"I want everyone to be in a property that can provide them with some safety," Ms Lewis told the BBC.

"I'm worried for my property at the fact it could be up to a year.

"My home insurance is up in 30 days so I'm hoping they will continue to support us," she said.

"I can't get my stuff moved out due to the fact no big vehicles are allowed on to the road."

Over 20 households in the East Surrey village remain unable to return to their properties on the High Street.

The majority of them have now been relocated into more long-term accommodation.

Tandridge District Council leader Catherine Sayer said: "The big worrying thing from tonight is the timescale as we have never had that before.

"I think people were expecting it but hearing someone come out with it is still shocking.

"As leader of the council, we need to help people long-term when it comes to housing."

The infrastructure team manager at Surrey County Council said: "We will try and make decisions to get people back into their homes as quickly as we can, but we need to have a knowledge over that - we can't let people go back into their homes if we feel there's a danger.

"We need to be really sure that there's not a danger and we will be releasing people back into their homes gradually over a period of time.

"I don't know what that period of time is."

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