188-year-old tunnels discovered under British village after 62-foot sinkhole swallowed streets overnight

A network of tunnels has been discovered under a small village in Britain, near a place where a massive sinkhole opened up in February this year. They are said to belong to the Victorian era, and are supposedly responsible for the sinkhole. The incident was reported in the Surrey village of Godstone.

On February 17, a huge crater was formed in the village, and residents were asked to immediately leave the place. The sinkhole ate an entire street overnight, triggering an emergency response. Over 30 homes were evacuated as it gradually expanded to 62 feet. Days later, another sinkhole opened. At the time, it was suggested that the event could be linked to the collapse of a nearby abandoned sand mine.

Experts started investigating what caused them, which has now spurred another probe into the Victorian tunnels. Engineers working to fix the sinkhole discovered the sand mining tunnels around the site. These tunnels were discovered at a depth of eight metres and might hold clues about the ground opening up.

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Where do the tunnels go, experts try to solve mystery

The Surrey County Council is digging deep, trying to unravel the mystery of the tunnels, along with whether they were solely responsible for the sinkholes. Lloyd Allen, the infrastructure manager, told the BBC that they are exploring the tunnels to learn where they go and the area they cover.

Allen is keeping it open, saying that while the discovery of the tunnels "puts one of the pieces into place” about the hole, there might be other factors at play as well, and it is important to investigate them.

Repair work on the sinkholes is expected to last till December. For now, "there's a lot of reconnecting services and redoing water mains, gas mains and electric cables," he added.

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Sand mine near Surrey village collapsed

The sand mine theory was put forward by Andrew Farrant, the British Geological Survey (BGS) regional geologist for southeast England, at the time. He pointed to old maps of the area, published in 1872, which he said showed an entrance to a sand mine near the crater. Farrant stated that it is possible that there were other "unrecorded sand mines".

Meanwhile, nearby businesses are suffering because of the sinkhole. Matt Furniss, Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Economic Growth at Surrey County Council, told The Independent, “This continues to be a highly complex incident involving a number of investigations led by our Highways Officers and other agencies, including specialist teams and utility companies."

He added that they will "update local residents and businesses as we progress through each stage of the process."