Inside Britain’s biggest pothole which is deep enough to swallow a child

BRITAIN’S biggest pothole is a 5ft crater easily deep enough to swallow a child.

The suspension-buster is said to have wrecked a BMW and sent a Deliveroo rider flying off their e-bike.

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Dean Hope, 41, descended into the pit to show its depth — with just his head poking out the top.

The 5ft 6in gas engineer said: “I got in it as a joke but it isn’t funny to motorists.

“I wouldn’t have wanted to drive over that in my car. It would have ripped half my suspension off.

“We are all paying taxes for these things to be fixed — but they just aren’t being fixed.

“If someone had hit this they could have really been hurt.”

A pothole first developed after Rogers Road in Canning Town, East London, was resurfaced two years ago. Several attempts to repair it have failed.

The pothole then collapsed into the 5ft chasm last week.

Residents put up cones around it to try to keep people away.

Jeanette Nind, 69, said: “There’s next to no street lighting here.

“What’s a cone going to do when someone is walking in the dark? Someone could be seriously injured or worse.

“I don’t know how there hasn’t been a crash from cars avoiding it and hitting a pedestrian.”

And Danny Beadle, 39, believes he should get compensation as he pays £600 for a parking permit — but cannot park near his home. The construction worker said: “I doubt there’s a deeper pothole in the country.”

It was finally fenced off on Friday before being filled with rubble and concrete yesterday.

Contractor Paul Morris, 42, of Kenson Highways, said from inside the gaping cavity: “It’s certainly one of the worst potholes I’ve ever come across.”

Newham council said the repair would be finished by the end of the month.

A spokesman added: “This is not a pothole. A 5ft deep sinkhole appeared overnight.

“This has been made safe while we wait for the concrete to set. Once it is, we will resurface the road, completing it by the end of April.”

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