Huge sinkhole opens up and forces road closure with locals shocked

A road has been closed off after a huge sinkhole opened up with some locals commenting "it's lucky no-one got injured."

A section of Taunton Road, in Ashton-under-Lyne, has been shut since Saturday evening between Oldham Road and Buttermere Road. A photo taken at the scene showed the hole in a middle of one side of the road, surrounded by orange safety barriers.

The other side of the road was blocked off with traffic cones, following an initial inspection on Saturday night. Graphic designer Arvind Mistry, 61, noticed the sinkhole on Saturday and when he realised I was "all blocked up" as he returned home.

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"It’s lucky no-one got injured," he told The Manchester Evening News. "I assume the weather’s got something to do with it, it could be that the tarmac’s expanded and made a crack."

Barry Germain, 86, said the emergence of the sinkhole was a shock and said a neighbour tried to help as the incident unfolded. "I thought there was a crash or something," he said. "A sinkhole? You don’t expect that.

Neighbours told the outlet the number of workers were seen looking into the sinkhole yesterday evening. Police and Tameside council staff were also seen at the site. Betty Pollard, 78, said: "I went to shut my curtains and saw flashing lights through the bedroom window.

"It was between 8.30pm and 9pm I think. There was a police van across the road and young people sat ok the wall. All I could see was this black thing. There was a council van and this bloke putting all these things out."

Tracey Germain, 60, added: "I just saw the man putting up the fences last night. I did notice a police car go past." It's understood Greater Manchester Police officers attended to assist Tameside council with the road closure.

The Mirror has contacted Tameside council for comment. There have been numerous issues reported on Greater Manchester roads that have affected drivers.

A 2025 report by JMW solicitors found there were more than 7,000 potholes roads across Greater Manchester, a five per cent rise of the previous year. The worst affected areas were the City of Manchester (2,356), Bury (834) and Oldham (751).

But roads in Stockport, Bolton and Trafford were also found to have more than 600 potholes with 703, 694 and 681, respectively. Bolton saw the largest increase in the number of reported potholes by 12 per cent, increasing from 620 in 2019 to 694 in 2020.