Bus caught in sinkhole as major incident declared in Lewisham

Firefighters rescued passengers from a coach that got stuck in a sinkhole on a high street in southeast London.

A major incident was declared by police after the hole opened up on Lee High Road in Lewisham.

The area was heavily flooded following a burst water main.

A temporary shelter has been set up on Bonfield Road for people displaced from homes due to the flooding.

London Fire Brigade tweeted: "We helped passengers off a coach that fell into a hole caused by flood water on Lee High Road in Lewisham. Please avoid the area if possible."

And Lewisham Central Police tweeted: "Major Incident declared; a sinkhole has opened on Lee High Rd and the area is heavily flooded. Road closures in place. Avoid the area!"

Twitter user @fairydust48 wrote: "Sinkhole has opened up in Lee high road ( Lewisham) swallowing a front end of a bus ...! water everwhere."

Another witness, @BeccaNPhysio, tweeted: "So Lee High Road is a river."

A photo from London Fire Brigade showed a coach leaning to its left in the floodwater.

Scotland Yard said the road was closed "and will be for some time".

Thames Water confirmed the water was from a burst main and that it had a team at the scene working to fix the problem.