The Home Counties sinkhole that swallowed a CAR! Family flee village home after their VW disappears into 30ft-deep crater which appeared overnight

Sinkhole swallowed VW Lupo after opening suddenly in middle of night

The wet weather in December and January may have caused the hole

The ground underneath was once chalk pits and has since been filled in



Ever had that sinking feeling when you open the front door in the morning and wonder where you left the car?

Did you leave it on the road, park it in the garage... or has somebody stolen it?

The last thing you'd probably think of is that it might have been swallowed up by the ground



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A family has been evacuated from their home after a sinkhole opened up in their driveway and swallowed their car

They woke up to discover their Volkswagen Lupo at the bottom of the 30ft hole which opened up on the driveway of their house in Walter's Ash, Buckinghamshire

The car was just identifiable through its muddy covering, lying at the bottom of the pit, which was 30ft deep and about 15ft across

But that's exactly what happened to 19-year-old Zoe Smith, whose Volkswagen Lupo fell down a 30ft-deep sinkhole in the night.

Now the car, which she relies on to get to work, is a write-off, lying at the bottom of the pit, which stretches 15ft across the family's driveway – to within inches of the house itself.

Miss Smith's stepfather Phil Conran, said: 'We hadn't heard anything at all. There was no indication whatsoever.



'At 7am my daughter went out the front door and instead of her car being there, there was a huge hole.

'I was gobsmacked. The first thing I did was phone the police because we didn't know what to do.

'We weren't absolutely sure the car was in there but it seemed too much of a coincidence for it not to be.'

The doomed VW Lupo at the bottom of the crevice belonged to teenager Zoe Smith (stock picture)

The giant hole is about 15ft in diameter and 30ft deep and appeared in the drive just feet away from the wall of the house

The wet weather in December and January may have caused the hole, at the house by eroding earth used to fill in the old clay, stone and chalk pits

Mr Conran, 59, an environmental consultant, said the police called firefighters to the house in Walters Ash, Buckinghamshire, to secure the area. Watch manager Stuart Grosse said: 'We get a few calls of this nature, mainly in the south of the county. Historically, holes have appeared in the area due to clay mining.'

Writing about mining in the area on a community website, a local historian explained: 'Earlier inhabitants of Naphill and Walters Ash made a living by digging on the Common and in the fields – digging for clay to make bricks, for chalk to make agricultural lime and for stone to shape as building and road making materials.

'The records show this going back from the 1950s to the early 1800s, and such activity may have started many years before that.'

It is thought the recent wet weather may have caused the hole to open up by eroding earth used to fill in the old pits.

Now local building inspectors are assessing whether the property is secure. Mr Conran hopes it will be because there was no structural damage to the property which he believes was built on a concrete raft to safeguard against sinkholes.

Mr Conran added: 'The real shock of all this is the horror of what might have been had Zoe gone out and been inside it when it sank. It overtakes all other concerns.