SINKHOLE APPEARS NEAR WATFORD HOME

A Watford man has described his shock at discovering a five foot deep sinkhole outside his home last night. Chris Lynwode, 48, of Tudor Walk, was alerted to the hole at the end of his driveway when his wife spotted it after returning home from work at 7pm. A dislodged paving stone on the drive revealed the hole, which is thought to have been caused by a deluge of rainwater over recent weeks. Police officers cordoned off the area around Mr Lynwode’s drive before council workers arrived to survey the damage. A cover has been placed over the sinkhole and further surveys are due to be carried out today. No houses were evacuated. Mr Lynwode told My Watford News that he had “never seen anything like it”. He said: “It must have happened when my wife ran over it, I’m really thankful it wasn’t bigger and the car fell down it as it could have been really bad. It’s at the end of the driveway which is the length of a car away from my home but looking at it you wonder if it will all give way. I’ve seen the other sinkholes on the news and you think it will never happen to you, but then it does. “It is a big slab of concrete which runs to the end of the drive so the rain must have been setting in under there for the last few weeks,” he added. “I’d imagine it took years for it to get that way and then it suddenly came away. The police were great as they came and took control of it. The council were out there for around two and a half hours in the end.” A Hertfordshire Constabulary spokesman told My Watford News: “Police were called to Tudor Walk, Watford at around 7.30pm last night (Wednesday, February 19) to reports of a hole emerging under the pavement. Officers attended alongside Watford Borough Council and Hertfordshire Highways to assess the hole.” He added: “The hole is approximately 2ft by 2ft wide and around 5ft deep. Barriers have now been placed around the hole and it is no longer a police matter. No houses were evacuated.” Four homes were evacuated on Sunday (February 16) night after a 20ft deep sinkhole was discovered in a back garden in Croxley Green. Another 20ft deep sinkhole was found in Hemel Hempstead on Saturday (February 15), mirroring a spike in sinkholes seen across the country.