Charvil car park scanned following sinkhole near school

Scans for further sinkholes have been carried out after a crater opened up in a car park near a primary school.

The sinkhole appeared in East Park Farm Car Park, near Charvil Piggot Primary School, on 20 November.

Charvil Parish Council later announced a further collapse had taken place.

Residents are now awaiting the results of a test for other sinkholes below the surface, according to parish councillor Lee Cripps.

Parents of pupils at the school have had to find alternative arrangements after using the site for drop-offs and pick-ups.

After its discovery, members of staff from Charvil Piggott Primary School guarded the hole to ensure no-one fell in

At first, the hole was about two metres (6.5ft) deep and one metre (3.2ft) wide, but it has since grown.

Mr Cripps told the Local Democracy Reporting Service he had been monitoring the area daily with a drone.

He said the cause of the sinkhole was still unknown and hoped a survey by Wokingham Borough Council might shed some light on it.

"There's been lots of guessing and supposition - but really you don't get a sinkhole for no reason.

"You could say that we have, in the last month or six weeks, had a lot of rain. Is there an underground spring or stream? Nobody really knows at this point," he added.

It is still not known what caused the sinkhole to appear

Mr Cripps said the further collapse had only taken place at the surface.

He said: "The ground had dropped away beneath the bricks, and the bricks were hanging over... They kicked in the loosest circle of bricks when they came to inspect it.

"From the surface, the hole had grown, but it hadn't grown underneath."

Charvil Parish Council is working with Wokingham council - which owns the land - and the primary school to keep disruption to a minimum.

The BBC has asked Wokingham Borough Council for the results of the scans.

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