The sinkhole first appeared in West Street on the 30th of August and it’s expected it will remain closed until mid November.

A number of shop owners say they are already counting the cost of weeks of disruption to business.

Statement from Thames Water.

We are currently carrying out repairs to our surface water sewer (SWS), which was found following a sink hole appearing in West Street, Dorking.

Following the initial collapse, our team have been working hard to plan and install overland sewer pipes and temporary pumps to protect the environment and keep the surface water sewers in the area flowing.

Our initial investigations suggested that we would be able to complete all of the necessary repairs within a couple of weeks.

Unfortunately, as we began our repairs the work has become more complex as we have found further damage on this pipework which will mean our repair works need to be extended.

Separate to the above damage, whilst we’ve been excavating, we’ve also located a leaking water main owned by SES Water which is in close proximity to our SWS.

We will be liaising with SES so a joined-up approach can be taken to ensure these repairs are carried out as efficiently as possible.

Due to the ground conditions and the services located, our teams will need to break the ground by hand to ensure this work is carried out safely. Given this isn’t a straightforward repair, we expect to continue working in this area for a further two months.

So that we can complete our works safely, West Street will remain closed, but we are maintaining access for pedestrians by foot.

Therefore, we’d like to assure that all local businesses in the area are remaining open and will not be impacted.

We’ve also been working closely with your local authority who’ve given us permission to work extended hours to allow us to carry this out as quickly as we can.

You may notice an increase in noise and movement in the area, especially near where our work is situated.

We will have our Customer Representatives in the area every Thursday between 10am and 2pm.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out to them and they will be more than happy to support you or answer any questions you may have.

We appreciate your patience throughout this time and will try to keep any disruption to a minimum.

This page will be updated regularly on the progress of these repairs.