Residents of a Fife village fear their homes could eventually sink into the ground following the sudden collapse of a section of pavement.
A hole, measuring at least 11ft deep, was discovered on Methilhill’s Main Street on Friday by a Fife Council worker as he cut the grass.
It is just yards from a section of ground which has been fenced off for more than a decade due to old mine workings subsiding, prompting concerns the problem is spreading.
Local man John Gray, 66, said people had been worried for years.
“It’s been left for 12 years and nobody’s doing anything about it,” he said.
“Now this has all of a sudden appeared and there’s a concern it could be spreading right across the street.”
Mr Gray, of Grieve Street, said two houses in nearby Toll Avenue had been evacuated a number of years ago after they began sinking.
Although repairs were made, he said the latest incident was frighteningly similar.
“We live right between the two so you can imagine how we feel,” he said.
Investigations into the cause of the hole’s appearance are under way and the area has been made safe in the meantime.
Officials from the Coal Authority responded as soon as the issue was reported to them.
A 3.5 metre-long pole with a camera was inserted into the hole and did not reach the bottom.
Investigators were able to determine that the shaft spread for some distance on either side of the opening underneath.
Local Labour councillor Ryan Smart said he had been warning for months that the subsidence could spread.
“I hate being right when it comes to things like this,” he said.
“I wrote to the landowner exactly two months ago saying something like this was going to happen and I didn’t even get a response.
“I’m desperate for someone to come and work with me to resolve this for the people of Methilhill.”
Mr Smart pointed out the hole, on the corner of Chemiss Road, was close to the primary school and on the route to Levenmouth Academy for many pupils.
“This needs to be sorted regardless of who owns it,” he said.
“This can’t continue. The kids go back to school next week and footfall on this path will increase by a lot.
“We can’t have a kid being hurt.”
Mick Owens, principal project manager at the Coal Authority, said: “Our regional project manager responded to this incident and ensured that the hazard was made safe by securely fencing the area.
“We will be undertaking thorough ground investigations to determine the cause of the incident.
“If these investigations conclude that it is a result of historical coal mine workings, we will undertake ground remediation work to make the area safe.”
