‘Cave-like’ hole appears in road
NEIGHBOURS were left baffled after a ‘six-foot’ deep hole formed in their street during the heatwave.
The gap on the road surface on Mapletree Close, Bestwood, was first spotted in the early hours of Monday.
Pictures posted to social media showed a hole in the street’s tarmac, which is said to lead to a hollow cavity, referred to as “cavelike” by some residents.
Locals thought the recent heatwave could have caused the collapse of the road, which has now been temporarily covered.
Gordon Hextall, 66, who lives on Mapletree Close and works in the NHS, claimed the hole was at least three-foot deep.
“It is about a three-foot drop, pretty hollow.
“If a wheelchair had gone over it it would have fell in and tilted in,” Mr Hextall said.
“It was quite dangerous before the cover was put over. A neighbour hadn’t noticed but when I told him he said ‘blooming hell’ at the size of it.
“It also looks like it is travelling down the road and getting bigger, it was crumbling. There was nothing under it to support it.
“The worry is that it could grow and travel down to the houses.”
Ashley Swift, 33, who lives on Beckhampton Road, across from the hole, and usually parks his van on Mapletree Close, said: “It’s got to be at least six-foot.
“I think whatever was underneath has been flushed away and then it appeared when the heat started - it’s floating tarmac.
“It’s a bit of a pain because I usually park my van over there. But I’m more worried about the elderly residents down there - I think they will have to close the road really to get it fixed.”
Mr Swift, who works as a plasterer, added: “I was touching around the side and it was just falling into the hole. It was like a cave and it needs to be sorted out soon.”
Another Mapletree Close resident, who did not want to be named, added: “Everything here is built on sand banks.
“The hole is about the size of a football, I think they will probably have to dig it all up to sort it now.
“The heat we’ve had recently has probably brought it on. We are worried about what will happen on this side of the road, with the heat we’re going to have.
“I could see the bottom of it when I looked in it. But I could have stood up in it.” Nottingham City Council were contacted for comment.