A SINKHOLE has appeared in a children's play area in Southampton.

Flooding has caused part of the Children's Pleasure Park at the city sports centre to disappear.

There is now a hole about one metre wide and up to four feet deep at the site in Bassett.

While the park remains open, three trampolines have been cordoned off as a safety precaution.

Fred Salter, who runs the park, said the hole first appeared on Friday when the area was covered in six inches of floodwater.

He said: I've never seen anything like this before at the sports centre.

“I am worried that it could happen anywhere around here because there was so much water running down the hole.

“You just wonder, where is all that water going to go?

“I was worried I would have to shut the play park down should it get bigger.

“But the problem is that water is running into the hole and we can't just fill it with earth, as where is the water going to go?”

“I'm scared that a child could play on the trampolines and another hole could appear, and if they had been when the sinkhole appeared they could have had serious injuries.”

He said Active Nation, which manages the sports centre, has not carried out repair work yet but is set to do so in the coming days.