'Very dangerous' sinkhole in Grantham plugged by traffic cones fished from the river
A sinkhole was discovered on a grassy verge outside Martin Court on St Catherine's Road, Grantham, last week.
Anne Gayfer, secretary for the South Lincolnshire Green Party, came across the hole on Thursday afternoon.
She took action with fellow Green Party and RiverCare member Ian Simmons, by using a traffic cone to plug the hole that Ian predicted "could have done someone a very nasty mischief".
Anne said: "I noticed the hole on Thursday early afternoon as I cut across from The Paddock to the end of Dudley Road.
"I think it could be connected with the two telecoms manhole covers nearby and you can see from the photos that it is big enough for someone to put their foot down and deep enough to break a leg.
"It is also lined with corrugated metal, so there is a potential for a bad injury, particularly if one was hurrying to cross the road."
Anne then shouted across to residents sitting outside Martin Court to warn them of the hole, before going home to report it to the local authority.
She continued: "On Saturday, as the hole was still uncovered, I rang Ian Simmons, who is a colleague of mine in the South Lincolnshire Green Party and also of RiverCare, and asked him if he knew anyone with some traffic cones, which he sourced and carried to the spot. We put one in the hole and one over the hole."
Ian explained his role in ensuring the spot was made temporarily safe for the public. His first thought was, "did I have any traffic cones?"
He added: "Ironically, RiverCare pulled two out of the river last weekend. We used these to protect the public from this very dangerous situation. The hole was deep enough to stand one cone on its (pointy) end in the hole!"
A spokesperson from Lincolnshire County Council said: "We were made aware of the sinkhole in the verge yesterday [Monday], and made it safe with cones.
"We believe the hole has come about due to a tree stump rotting. We're going to refill it as soon as we can."
