
These jaw-dropping pictures give new meaning to the phrase 'a room with a view' as holiday homes teeter precariously over a gigantic 250ft deep sinkhole said to be visible from space.

Seawater used in nearby Russian mines has been blamed for causing the enormous crater - which has grown from 130ft across when it appeared last November to 400ft.

Latest images, taken from a helicopter, show the abyss threatening forests on two sides, as well as more homes now standing on the edge of the gaping precipice.

Operations at the Solikamsk-2 mine have since been suspended and 1,300 workers sent home. The decision was made by Uralkali, the company which owns the site in the Perm region of central Russia.

It is two miles from the nearest town but was a regular summer getaway destination until the holiday homes were abandoned in 2005 following concerns the ground was sinking.

One local source said as many as 20 cottages, unoccupied at the time, have now sunk into the chasm.

The sinkhole measures 400ft by 410ft, according to Uralkali, the world's biggest potash producer.

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Enormous: This pictures gives new meaning to the phrase 'a room with a view' as holiday homes teeter precariously over a gigantic 250ft deep sinkhole said to be visible from space

Don't look down: Latest images, taken from a helicopter, show the abyss threatening forests on two sides, as well as more homes now standing on the edge of the gaping precipice

The root cause: Seawater used in nearby Russian mines has been blamed for causing the enormous crater - which has grown from 130ft across when it appeared in November to 400ft

On hold: Operations at the Solikamsk-2 mine have since been suspended and 1,300 workers sent home. The decision was made by Uralkali, the company which owns the site in the Perm region of central Russia

Scared away: The site is two miles from the nearest town but was a regular summer getaway destination until the holiday homes were abandoned in 2005 following concerns the ground was sinking