Homes have been evacuated in Kent after a sinkhole opened up in the middle of the main road, causing “substantial” damage.   Ten homes have been evacuated as a large sinkhole, approximately six feet across, appeared on the A26. Witnesses saw police rushing to the scene just before parts of the road began collapsed.

Motorists said they heard a “crunching sound” before the sinkhole appeared. Lauren Bourke was in a car with her fiance when the road between Maidstone and Tonbridge began to give way.  She said: “The bottom of a bus hit the dipping tarmac and made a slight crunching sound which is when we knew the road definitely wasn’t safe.  READ MORE