A DRIVEWAY has been turned into a scene from a disaster movie after it was replaced by a large crater.

The big hole opened up on Monday outside the Coldham family home in Blackshots Lane, Grays.

The family now fear their detached home could be at risk should the hole get even bigger. It has already affected a footpath which runs close to their home and yesterday Thurrock Council engineers began work making the nearby road and gas pipes safe. Traffic controls were also brought into Blackshots Lane.

Leah Coldham, 44, who has lived in the property for nine years, said: “We’re worried about the house going down there. We’ve been advised not stay in the house in case. It’s very close to the road. It only takes a couple of light lorries to come along here and the road could collapse.”

A small hole appeared on their drive last Tuesday, but has been getting bigger ever since.

On Monday afternoon, the walls of the hole collapsed, creating a large crater. Luckily, none of the Coldhams’ three vehicles were parked on the driveway at the time. The collapse could be due to the drive being built on a “denehole”. A number of these “underground excavations” have been discovered in Grays and are thought to have been dug by the Danes or early northern invaders of the UK hundreds of years ago.

It is thought the holes were dug for chalk extraction, storing grain or perhaps even as hiding places or dwellings.

Leah added: “We have no idea what’s caused it. No one seems to know at the moment. I know there are a lot of deneholes around here, so it could be that.”

The hole is similar, though not as deep, to one that appeared in the back garden of Ken Luck’s home in April 2010. Mr Luck, of Lodge Lane, found a ten-foot hole in his garden, which was thought to have been caused by chalk erosion.