RESIDENTS feared their road could collapse when a hole appeared.

Homeowners in Sudeley Terrace, Brighton, raised the alarm after the hole appeared in the street.

Engineers working on behalf of Brighton and Hove City Council inspected the site yesterday and partially closed the road.

One resident said: “All it would take is for one of those articulated lorries to come along here and it could all collapse.”

The man added: “The engineers said it was very, very serious.

“It’s only about six inches at the moment but when you look down it you can’t see the bottom of it and the engineer told me he thinks it goes the whole length of the road.

“I am very concerned about it because it’s the main road to the eye hospital and is a busy road and now it’s going to be closed for at least a week.

“Under all the houses we have bunkers which go down about four feet so it could be that deep.”

A Brighton and Hove City Council spokesman said: “We have made the hole in Sudeley Terrace safe with barriers and enabled the road to remain partially open.

“The hole is currently around two metres by two metres, and about three metres deep.

“Our contractors will be excavating around the hole to get a clearer idea of the extent of the problem and its possible causes.

“We hope that they will be able to start work filling in the hole and reinstating the road on Wednesday, but that will depend on what they discover.”