THAMES Water has vowed to repair a 6ft-wide hole in the Sevenfields Nature Reserve in response to residents’ concerns it could be dangerous.

Ken Wordsall, 73, of Greenmeadow, raised the alarm last week fearing the hole could swallow a bike, a pet or even a child and Swindon Council and Thames Water had been notified.

Now Ken said due to the heavy rain the hole by the cycle path that runs near Dart Avenue into the Sevenfields Nature Reserve has widened from 4ft to 6ft across and is about 7ft deep.

Barriers have been put up to warn people to stay away by the council, which has confirmed it is not its responsibility.

A spokesman for Thames Water said: “Our engineers have been out to do an initial inspection and it has been passed on to the relevant team as we think it is something we can solve.

“It appears it may be a problem with the earth around the sewer pipe and so it has been tasked to our waste team to look at.

“They are obviously dealing with customers who have had overflowing manholes and drains into their propertries but the ball has started rolling.”