The Home Counties sinkhole that swallowed a CAR

 Ever had that sinking feeling when you open the front door in the morning and wonder where you left the car?

Did you leave it on the road, park it in the garage... or has somebody stolen it?

The last thing you'd probably think of is that it might have been swallowed up by the ground

But that's exactly what happened to 19-year-old Zoe Smith, whose Volkswagen Lupo fell down a 30ft-deep sinkhole in the night.
Now the car, which she relies on to get to work, is a write-off, lying at the bottom of the pit, which stretches 15ft across the family's driveway – to within inches of the house itself.

Miss Smith's stepfather Phil Conran, said: 'We hadn't heard anything at all. There was no indication whatsoever.

At 7am my daughter went out the front door and instead