Bexleyheath residents said they were shocked after a huge sinkhole opened up on their quiet road on Tuesday evening – and said it was the second time a massive hole has swallowed up their neighnourhood.

Police tape has been put up around Martens Avenue after emergency services reacted to the incident on Tuesday.

Families living on the street in Bexleyheath found the middle of the road had collapsed, with pictures appearing to show a motorbike swallowed by the sinkhole.

This Is Local London: Police tape and mental fencing blocked the public off from the 5m wide sinkhole that opened up on Martens Avenue (photo: Kiro Evans)Police tape and mental fencing blocked the public off from the 5m wide sinkhole that opened up on Martens Avenue (photo: Kiro Evans)

The rider of the motorbike had reportedly fallen in before escaping. Staff from Thames Water were at work on Wednesday afternoon to check whether water pipes had been affected by the road caving in.

Residents with longer memories recall a similar insident happening on nearby Braeside Crescent, when a garden was reportedly swallowed up in 2008.

Chris Wells, 82, told the Local Democracy Service how he became aware of what happened last night.

He said: “I saw it last night when it happened when all the fire engines turned up.

"It’s not the first time this has happened though, it happened a few years ago. They had to take the house down completely and their garden disappeared.

“We don’t want any more of these.

"And it’s going to restrict us from getting around.”

Mum Kate Bostal, 38, said she would have to go in a different direction on the school run because of the sinkhole.

She said: “I’m going to have to go the other way on the school run which will take around the same time. But luckily with the train strikes I’m working from home.”

She also shared her memories of the previous sinkhole, which happened only a couple minutes walk from the collapse on Martens Avenue.

Resident Eddie Rivers, 49, said neighbours described to him the sound of a “crack” as the road gave way.

He said: “I saw it last night at 9 o’clock as I was putting the bins out.

"And basically there were a couple of people standing there and I asked what was going on, and they said there was this noise and it just opened up.

“They said the noise was like a crack.

"The police arrived not long after and blocked the road off.”

Jo Shaw, who did want to give her age, said she became aware of the commotion last night but did not want to leave her house.

She said: “[I heard about it] last night when the fire engine went past. I was in my dressing gown so I couldn’t be bothered going outside! But I looked out my son’s window. I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

Rachel Mugami, 33, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I didn’t see it at first but I saw all the fire engines and stuff. I took the dog out to be nosy and then saw the sinkhole.

“It’s not the first time it’s happened. Literally just behind this first house a house fell in [due to the previous sinkhole].

"The only downfall is that I normally go [in the direction of the sinkhole] when I take the dog for a walk, but now I’m going to have to go the long way round, and that’s probably going to be shut off for some time.”

Paul Power, 56, added: “It’s crazy. Put it this way. Say you lived at a house right where the sinkhole is and you reversed out in your car. Can you imagine that?”

The London Fire Brigade released a statement on Tuesday night.

It said: “Firefighters were called at 21:06 last night to a sink hole the depth of 5m in the road on Martens Avenue in Bexleyheath. We helped make the scene safe and the incident was over for crews by 22:28.”

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