Large mysterious hole suddenly appears in road in Milton Keynes town

MK Council implemented an emergency closure of a section Windsor Street in Wolverton this afternoon.

Specialists are now carrying out an “urgent excavation” and the area will remain closed until a repairs are been carried out, said a counil spokesman.

The hole was first noticed today and Wolverton and Greenleys Town Council put a post on social media at around 3.30pm.

They stated: “A hole has appeared on Windsor St and Milton Keynes Council are coming out to investigate this afternoon. They will have to close Windsor St from Church St to no 2, just after the back alley. This means that Windsor St will be closed after the Aylesbury St junction to all traffic, it will be resident access only.

“All traffic coming down Windsor St will be directed to turn right on to Aylesbury St and then left on to Cambridge St. There will be traffic cones out.

“Please can we ask that no one double parks along this part of Aylesbury St as emergency vehicles, as well as all other traffic, will be using this part of the road and will need to get through safely.”

Later Milton Keynes Council put out its own statement, saying: “We have closed a section here at the junction with Church Street to carry out an urgent excavation. The area will be closed off until a repair has been carried out. Any bus services will be rerouted around this area.”

It has not been confirmed whether the hole is a sinkhole, which can happen in areas of chalky terrain.

Sinkholes can happen where there is underlying rock that is vulnerable to being dissolved by water, such as gypsum, limestone and chalk.

Around 20% of the country has such terrain.

Last year a hole appeared in Bletchley, on the junction of Buckingham road and Church Green Road. It was thought to be caused by a damaged section of sewer pipe underneath the road’s surface.

An emergency closure was put in place and Anglian Water sent teams to carry out repairs.