Collingham residents endure three months of waiting for repairs to collapsed Trent Lane road

As potholes go, this one won’t so much damage a wheel as consume a whole car without trace.

The deeply disturbing problem has left Valerie Clark, her husband and neighbours without the usual access to their Trent Lane, Collingham, homes since January.

During the floods the access road to the property simply disappeared, leaving them cut off from the outside world for 20 days.

It was ten days before Valerie could venture out for supplies, walking five miles before she could be picked up by car and driven to the shop.

Journeys afterwards were by boat and then tractor.

It was then 20 days before an emergency access was carved from the nature reserve behind the homes on Trent Lane.

The usual access road remains to be repaired as engineers work out just what to do.

It was only on February 26 that, with no sign of the flood water dissipating of its own accord that an operation to pump it away was mounted.

The water is now at a level where the collapsed road, which had been 3ft under water, can be assessed.

The homes are bordered by the rivers Trent and Greet and are near former gravel pits, which filled.

Valerie, who is in her late fifties and lives in a five-bedroom home that was the former Jolly Bargeman pub, worries what will happen if the emergency services are needed to attend her home or that of her uncle and aunt who are in their seventies.

A bad situation got worse when temperatures plummeted to minus eight and their heating stopped working and they couldn’t get anyone in to fix it.

The area is prone to flooding, something the Clarks have become accustomed to, but never previously on this scale of for so long.

“They haven’t been able to do anything until the pits drained,” said Valerie.

“The planning people came last Thursday trying to decide what to do.

“The flood water took part of the field. It’s a really big hole ­— 40ft long and 6ft deep.

“It’s so big that people come to have a look.

“When I hear people complain about potholes, I have a little smile and think to myself ‘you haven’t seen anything’ — we have a huge sink hole.

“Should it, in 2021, take so long to resolve?”