‘I’m staying put’: Defiant grandfather on Surrey sinkhole street refusing to leave home

Godstone locals have nicknamed the now eerily quiet village ‘Godshole’ as businesses have been forced to close and residents flee. As cracks continue to spread around a massive sinkhole that swallowed a Surrey village high street, two grandfathers are adamant they will not leave their homes.

The first sinkhole, which appeared in Godstone on Monday evening after a water pipe burst under the road, opened up a huge cavity measuring 19m x 3m and prompted the evacuation of 30 properties. A day later, a second crater swallowed the front garden of an apartment block on the road, leaving a car precariously teetering on the edge.

Families with young children have been forced to relocate to temporary accommodation 15 miles away in Crawley, while others have taken to living in their cars. But despite receiving the same orders to evacuate, two grandfathers remain steadfast that they will not leave.

Brendon Davis, 87, was caught in a tense stand-off with council workers on Thursday who were trying to evacuate him from the house his grandfather built on Salisbury Road 150 years ago. He told The Independent: “We should have been evacuated but we refused. I know my property and we have more bricks underground than overground.

“I’m not concerned and if everything starts falling down I have a back way I can get out.”. A member of Surrey Council’s highways team carrying out an inspection asked the retired company director if he had anywhere else he could go, to which he replied sarcastically: “I guess I could get on a flight to the Canary Islands couldn’t I?”.

Asked to be serious, he hit back: “Where am I supposed to go in all seriousness? I don’t need to move. My house is not in any danger. “I’m not moving. Don’t worry about me I just want to get my car out [of my garage]. It’s only a small car but they are saying it’s not safe to move.”.

Locals have nicknamed the now-eerily quiet village “Godshole” rather than Godstone. Businesses including a barber’s and an MOT garage on the very edge of the sinkhole have been told it could be as long as six months before Godstone High Street can reopen.

Another grandfather living close to the 100m cordon erected around the second crater said that he had been expecting the disaster for decades. “We’ve known about this water pipe for 20 years,” the man, who didn’t want to be named, told The Independent.

“There was this bump in the road, we called it ‘the ski jump’. It formed when they built the new estate. “The road has sunk down after that apart from this big bump.”. He added: “I have been asked to move but I’m staying put. We are built on rocks and we’ve been here a long enough time.”.

He hit out at the lack of information from authorities who have held drop-in sessions at a local youth club, but have admitted they can’t put a timeline on when residents might be able to return. He added: “They haven’t sent anyone round – someone asked me if the water was running but that’s it.

“The information has been very poor, we’re not on social media so have no idea what is happening. No one can give us an answer. He added: “They forced my neighbour to evacuate they said there was another crack forming. He didn’t want to go at all. They wouldn’t let him back in to get his stuff but he managed to get his dogs out just about.

“The council can’t make you leave and I think the police can only force you out if it’s an emergency only.". In a statement on Wednesday, Tandridge District Council said they understood there were “historical sandpits” in the area, adding that the site was being assessed by structural experts to see what repair works were needed.

On Thursday morning, Matt Furniss, the cabinet member for highways, transport and economic growth at Surrey County Council, said properties surrounding the sinkhole had been declared stable for now. He said: “All properties have been surveyed and we believe are currently structurally sound, but this may not remain the case.