Police advised people living in William Way, Godstone, “to get out as quickly as possible” early on Tuesday morning because of fears that exposed cables might cause an explosion.
Villagers in Surrey have been forced to evacuate their homes over fears of an explosion after a large and expanding sinkhole appeared in the high street.
Residents described the evacuation scenes as “terrifying”, with one person who moved in less than a week ago saying that he had been forced to sleep in his car.
By Tuesday afternoon, it had grown to at least 20 metres, which led to water supplies being cut off and a garden being swallowed up.
I don’t think they know what state the mains gas and electric’s in, so it was a risk of explosion, fire, collapse,” Josh Neame told the BBC.
