COUNCIL bosses say a sink hole that appeared in Lye has occurred due to a drainage issue.

Dudley Council sent out engineers last week when the void was reported in a right of way known as Nanny Goats Hill off Springfield Avenue on Thursday January 3.

Police reportedly cordoned off the gaping hole for safety while council engineers looked into the matter which has since been discovered to be the result of a drainage problem.

Councillor John Martin, Dudley Council's cabinet member for environmental services and highways, said: “We had reports of a hole in a section of highway off Springfield Avenue, Lye, last week and our engineers immediately investigated.

“There is a drainage issue on site and we have passed the matter to Severn Trent Water to resolve as quickly as possible.”

A spokesman for Severn Trent Water said: "We’ve been informed of a potential issue with the drains at Springfield Avenue, Lye, and we’re going to carry out a CCTV camera survey to see what’s going on.

"To do that we need access to the manhole nearby, which is unfortunately broken. We’ll be at the site tomorrow to both replace the manhole cover and then carry out the CCTV survey.

“Once we know if there is an issue with the sewer, we can decide what needs to be done, and obviously we will fix any problems as quickly as possible.

“We’d like to say sorry to anyone affected by this and reassure people we will get to the bottom of it as soon as we can.”