Work to fill in and stabilise a 115ft (35m) deep sinkhole in Wooburn Green will begin in March, Buckinghamshire Council has said.

The defect, which appeared under a playground in Sappers Field in May 2023, will cost an estimated £270,000 to fix, with remedial works to be completed by June this year.

The council carried out ground investigation works at an old mineshaft in Sappers Field during autumn 2023.

Following a subsequent tender process, Soil Engineering Geoservices Ltd was appointed to carry out the remediation works.

John Chilver the council’s cabinet member for accessible housing and resources, said: “Once the remediation works are finished, Sappers Field will be restored as a public space.

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“Based on recent analysis and surveys, we anticipate that there will be no recurrence of the previous issue.”

Sappers Field remains closed to the public following the appearance of the sinkhole there last year.

Laser scans and video surveys showed that the hole was a 35m deep ‘bell pit’ – a primitive form of excavation.

The sinkhole is the second to appear in Sappers Field after another at the end of February 2020, which has now been filled in.

The field, bordered by Kiln Lane, has a history of extraction of clay extraction dating to the nineteenth century.

It eventually became disused and was later filled and covered over by army sappers to create the playing field.