Concern for gas main as Ellesmere sink hole closes road
A sink hole has opened up in a street with residents fearing it could collapse onto a gas main.
The sink hole appeared at the entrance to two properties in Watergate Street, Ellesmere, and has continued to grow ever since, exposing a gas main and electrical pipes underground.
Concerned residents contacted authorities, with Severn Trent Water saying it wasn’t their responsibility before Shropshire Council’s highways inspected and closed the road and fenced off the hole.
Phillip and Ruth Bridgewood live near the damaged road and have been trapped, unable to get a van for their business onto the street.
Mr Bridgewood fears what could happen if the ground was to collapse onto the gas main, and has called for something to be done.
He said: “We basically can’t get up our drive because of this and have been trapped in our home.
“We don’t know whose responsibility it is, the council were due to come back on Tuesday but we haven’t seen them and we are just concerned.
“I would say the hole is about three foot deep with the gas main visible. We just don’t know what do and we’re in limbo really. They are aware of it but we don’t know when any work is going to be done.
“If the ground does give way and collapses onto the gas main, then there is going to be a serious hazard. It could be a disaster. If that fractures the gas pipe then it could cause a major evacuation.”
Mr Bridgewood accesses the back of his house, along with a neighbour, through an archway which is completely blocked off by the sink hole.
And being on a one-way road, the closure is causing problems for his wife's business
She runs Nan’s Treasure Box in Ellesmere, selling vintage furniture, but she is unable to use her van.
Meanwhile, another sink hole formed in Church Stretton where a highways team was conducting urgent work.
Shropshire Council were contacted for comment.
