Worthing road fixed as council says it was ‘not a sinkhole’

TRAFFIC is now flowing again along a Worthing road that had a hole open up in it last night (June 19).
Sinkhole opens in South Street, Tarring. Picture by Eddie MitchellSinkhole opens in South Street, Tarring. Picture by Eddie Mitchell
Sinkhole opens in South Street, Tarring. Picture by Eddie Mitchell

Fire and police attended South Street, in Tarring, after reports from a passer-by of a ‘sinkhole’ opening up in the road.

Fire officers at the scene examined the area and found it to be substantially larger underground than the 18-inch surface diameter indicated.

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Speaking this afternoon, West Sussex County Council said the hole had been filled and that it was not a sinkhole.

“Our contractor Balfour Beatty attended with a gang this morning and filled this void in,” he said.

“It’s a void as opposed to a sinkhole and traffic should now flowing as normal. We are analysing whether any further works are necessary at the moment.”

He said that sinkhole was a ‘new term banded about to describe large craters opening up in the road’.

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“Voids are when areas underneath the road have washed away and eventually this causes the top layer of the road to subside,” he said, adding that sinkholes were larger and voids much smaller.

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