Massive 7ft sinkhole opens up on UK street as 15-year-old injured

A schoolboy has shared his horror experience after a massive sinkhole swallowed the ground seven feet deep beneath his feet, leaving the teen injured on his walk back from class.

Sam Foulkes, 15, was on his way home from school when the ground suddenly opened up beneath him on Kearsley Road in Bolton, Greater Manchester.

A passerby pushed to drag him out of the knee-deep water and had to lay on the ground to hoist the teen out.

Sam was raced to hospital, where he was diagnosed with soft tissue damage in his arm.

Sam said: “My arms are extremely sore and I have a couple of cuts and bruises on my legs and chin and hand as well.

“I still feel shook up from it, I don’t really remember much of it.”

Andrea Foulkes, Sam’s mum, says the teen was “very dazed” after his accident.

She said his school shoes and uniform were completely ruined.

Ms Foulkes said: “The sinkhole, from what we have been told, was about seven-foot deep. A gentleman who was passing saw Sam disappear.

“He slammed the anchors on, legged it across the road and had to lie on the floor and get down and try and assist him out of the hole.

“He was very dazed and trying to get to his feet. His school shoes were wrecked, his uniform was ripped.

“Apparently when the gentleman helped him out, he said he was more concerned about his school bag.”

Stuart Foulkes, Sam’s dad, has called on Bolton Council to investigate how this could have happened.

A Bolton Council spokesperson told Express.co.uk: “The issue was raised as an out of hours emergency to the highways call out team on Wednesday 15 January and we attended and made the location safe.

 “The council had received no previous concerns regarding the area. The sinkhole was caused by a drainage issue and repairs commenced on 21 January. We aim to complete repairs by the end of next week.”