Neighbours investigating what looked like a small burrow in their garden after years of flooding narrowly avoided falling through a mysterious 8ft shaft.
The cavernous hole, which started off small in size, eventually fell through on the fence border of two homes in Runcorn that were purchased in 2015.
The houses were bought on the site of the Barge Pub in Castlefields after it was destroyed in a fierce blaze in 2011. They were sold to the current residents by Keepmoat Homes.
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Ever since they moved in nearly eight years ago, the residents have complained to Keepmoat, Halton Council, United Utilities, and Highways England about severe garden flooding. They say their complaints have consistently fallen on deaf ears.
One of the residents, Mike Maylor, whose house backs onto Castlefields Avenue East where the shaft has appeared, said: “We have just been constantly fobbed us off (about the flooding), and it got to the point they stopped replying to my concerns.
“My kids would stand at the patio crying each time we had heavy rain and watch the garden repeatedly get destroyed, they could never have nice toys, in the garden, because the flooding would destroy them."
In 2021 Keepmoat visited Mike's property and said they believed the flooding issues were being caused by his artificial grass and that there was nothing they could do about it. Mr Maylor said he was told that because of the changes he had made to the garden, the issues were his responsibility and not the developer's.
The hole in the garden of neighbour Mike Lever had been getting larger until Saturday, May 13 when it collapsed entirely to reveal the huge shaft beneath the ground.
The residents said there was never any record of an 8ft shaft bordering their properties which appears to pump out water when there is heavy rainfall. They said they would not have bought the properties if they had been made aware of this because of the flooding issues it could cause.
Mr Maylor said: "We don’t know what it is, some of the residents think it’s a secret passage leading to Norton Priory, my 97-year-old grandmother thinks is an abandoned WWII air raid shelter, while other residents are hedging bets that the remains of Lord Lucan or Shergar hides beneath.
"It sounds like we are finding it funny, but we are not actually, this is extremely frightening and dangerous if my six-year-old daughter had fallen through it could have been fatal.”
"We always said the water was coming from the ground and we provided photos and videos, over the years, which they ignored.
"Eventually the hole appeared, and it got larger until it collapsed when one of the residents was completing gardening chores. Now there is a large shaft that drops at least 8ft deep and is encased in concrete with what looks like cast iron steps leading down.
"In the meantime, nobody has contacted us saying they will help us; keep it or make it safe, we have been left to deal with this alone and pick up the pieces which we believe are totally unfair, especially when we complained of the effects of this shaft since we first moved in.
“When we purchased our home, we trusted the house builder, Keepmoat Homes, and thought they would sell us our dream home but instead it has turned into a constant wet nightmare."
After Mr Maylor contacted his local MP Derek Twigg, United Utilities returned to the site and investigated the shaft.
He added: "It looks like the land was sold to the developer from council to Keepmoat.
"For eight years our gardens flooded and we were ignored and made to look stupid., can you imagine the stress of your garden flooding over and over again to be told that it was just the rain? It was only when the manhole suddenly gave way that we knew what it really was. The whole thing has been extremely stressful."
Tony Mellor, regional managing director for the Keepmoat in the North West, said: “We completely understand our customers’ frustrations, and thank them for giving us the opportunity to investigate this matter thoroughly. We have been working closely with them to confirm the best course of action and ensure the matter is resolved as quickly as possible.
“Our Remedial Works Manager and groundworkers have attended the property to determine the cause of the flooding which has been identified as a collapsed drain. The groundworks have begun, and we are also currently in discussion with United Utilities and the local council. We are keeping in close contact with our customers so that they’re kept informed of the work that is taking place to rectify the issue.”
Halton Borough Council has also been approached for comment.
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