Sinkhole has left us homeless, residents say

Residents evacuated after a sinkhole swallowed up a Surrey village high street say they have "no idea" how long they will be left out of their homes.

Homeowners and businesses in Godstone have been left in limbo after the sinkhole appeared in the High Street on Monday, leading to many being forced out of their homes over safety concerns.

Now, displaced families say they have been left to "fend for themselves".

The leader of Tandridge District Council (TDC) said she was "very sorry" if anyone felt let down, and the authority had been "doing their best" to keep residents informed.

Sarah Lewis, who was evacuated from nearby William Way, said she and her two daughters, aged four and six, were left "homeless".

The 36-year-old said they had been living in an AirBnB with black mould in it in the interim after they were evacuated in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

"We have no idea how long we are going to be out of our home," she said.

"I've just gone in now to try and get more information. There's none."

About 30 properties remain evacuated while work continues around the sinkhole.

Meanwhile, businesses owners in Godstone added they had seen a downturn in trade since the sinkhole appeared and had been forced to close at times.

Dana Hussein, who owns a barber shop in the High Street, said he was worried about the impact of the sinkhole, adding: "The council said it may take nearly six months to fix, three to six months.

"If that road was closed for three to six months, it would affect our business because we would lose all the customers for six months."

Sami Bristow, who owns Blossoms Cafe in Godstone, added: "There's not a lot of footfall at the moment and the traffic is affected.

"We have already chosen to close one day a week and extend our hours on weekends."

Matt Furniss, of Surrey County Council, said properties around the sinkhole had been declared stable for now, but admitted that returning residents to their homes "may take months".

Catherine Sayer, TDC leader, said any resident was welcome to get in touch if they "need to talk to somebody".

"It's hard – we've got a list of all the people that have been evacuated, and anybody else has contacted us, and I think we're contacting them all today just to give them an update and to check in on them and check they're OK."

Local agencies have declared a major incident in relation to the sinkhole.

Additional reporting by PA Media.

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