Bexhill: Calls to repair large sinkhole in road

The hole, located in Bolebrooke Road, is believed to have been there for a few months.

Safety barriers have been erected around it.

A second sinkhole has also appeared on the opposite side of the road.

There is also another hole in Cooden Drive near the junction with South Cliff Avenue.

Cllr Hazel Timpe, Rother district councillor for Sackville Ward, who covers Bolebrooke Road, said: “Residents are concerned about this hole which has been there for some time. I am contacted on a regular basis about this and the state of Bexhill roads in general.

“My colleague at East Sussex County Council, Cllr Ian Hollidge is aware of the problems we have and robustly pursues Highways on our behalf. With more than 14,000 miles of road to maintain the results for Bexhill are woefully hit and miss a lot of the time. The situation is becoming increasingly intolerable.”

Bexhill has seen a number of sinkholes or ‘voids’ appearing in its roads over the last two years.

The latest one was a ‘void’ that was discovered in the carriageway in Upper Sea Road in the Old Town.

Stagecoach said it had to divert its bus routes to avoid the hole, which East Sussex Highways confirmed was repaired last Friday (February 9).

Last November, residents in Cantelupe Road demanded a sinkhole in their road be repaired months after it was first discovered.

It was spotted in the summer, which led to part of the road being closed off to traffic.

But months later, the restrictions were still in place and the hole remained unrepaired.

And in June 2022, a large sinkhole also appeared elsewhere in Bexhill in Colebrooke Road.

The hole was believed to be up to four metres deep and a water pipe was reportedly leaking due to the collapse of the road.

The road was closed to traffic and cordoned off, with East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service attending the scene.

South East Water then started urgent repairs to the road in Collington.

Three months later, the road was still closed to traffic, with East Sussex Highways apologising for the continued closure, saying the repair process was ‘extremely complex’.

An East Sussex Highways spokesperson said: “It is important that we fully investigate the cause of any damage to road surfaces to ensure that any repairs we carry out are appropriate and effective.

“The damage to the centre of Bolebrooke Road is currently being investigated by Southern Water, while repairs are being planned for the second site in Bolebrooke Road and to the road surface in Cooden Drive. We’ll share details of the work once confirmed.”