Families left without water following Sunderland home subsidence evacuation

Residents in Broomshields Avenue in Sunderland awoke to find their gas and water was switched off on Sunday, August 11, following the discovery of subsidence to a property in the street.

Emergency services were called to a house in Fulwell, after the alarm was raised at around 8pm on Saturday, August 10.

A semi-detached home suffered damage to the front and back of the property, with a car on the front drive having visibly sunk.

The silver Mercedes, parked next to a blue car, could be seen to be sunken into the ground by nearly a foot in height and it is unclear how it will be safely removed.

Neighbouring homes have been left without gas or water, whilst emergency workers tackled with making the area safe and repair any damage caused by the subsidence and the silver Mercedes sinking into the ground.

Ashley Murphy lives in one of the neighbouring properties on the street. She spoke with the Sunderland Echo about the issues raised by waking up to find no gas or water at her home: “It’s terrible what has happened to my neighbour’s house. I can’t imagine what it’s like.

“My 11-year old daughter suffers from chronic idiopathic constipation and requires her to be attached to a machine twice a day. It uses 2 litres of water each time, and it has to be fresh water. Waking up to find no water has meant that we began to panic and rushed out to buy lots of bottles of fresh water so my daughter can continue with her treatment. We haven’t been told how long we are going to be without water.”

The 43-year old is one of many families who are suffering with the disruption in the city cul-de-sac. Emergency services evacuated neighbouring properties and closed the road for a number of hours, while they worked to make sure other properties in the street were not affected by the subsidence.

It is not clear what had caused the sudden subsidence.