A huge 10ft-wide crater has opened up by a popular recreation ground right next to an electricity substation.

More than 200 high street residents had their electricity supply cut off to allow South East Water officials to repair a burst water main underground.

Emergency gas workers also attended and Dan Brown, spokesman for gas distribution company SGN said: "Our engineers attended the site to carry out safety checks on our gas main.

"We’ve found no damage to our network and we will continue to monitor the site while other utility companies complete any repairs required."

The hole is on the footpath next to Tenterden recreation ground on the corner of Recreation Ground Road and the A28.

Multiple agencies are involved in the emergency repairs including gas, electricity and KCC highways.

Tenterden town council maintenance worker Andy Corcoran saw the hole when it was just a small gap and arranged to cordon off the area.

Town councillor Sue Ferguson said: "I first spotted the hole about 4pm yesterday when it was quite small but the pavement has collapsed overnight and there's now a 10ft gap."

Niamh Arnett, a spokesman for UK Power Networks, said: "For safety reasons we isolated electricity supplies to 232 customers in Tenterden High Street between 3am and 5.21am today to enable another utility to excavate and repair a water leak.

"Safety is our priority and engineers returned to the area again today to ensure our substation remained safe and secure."

Jenny Rhodes, regional network manager at South East Water said: “We were alerted to a burst water main in East Cross, Tenterden at just after 1am."

She added: “The site has been made safe and repairs to the water main have been completed. We are now working with the Kent Highways to fix the damage to the footpath."