UPDATE 3.50pm: A power pole has been removed from inside a Bendigo sinkhole after a collapse left its integrity in question.
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Electricity company Powercor worked to remove the object on Friday afternoon but said no customers would be affected.
Two cranes were required for the operation.
A City of Greater Bendigo councillor confirmed the sink hole was on private property and that recovery works would not be a local government responsibility.
EARLIER: A sinkhole described as “bottomless” has opened up on the doorstep of a Bendigo factory.
The ground above the hole in Hinch Street, Long Gully, gave way some time before 6.30am this morning when the hole was spotted by a neighbouring tenant.
No one was present for the collapse. No injuries occurred.
The gaping chasm is approximately three metres wide and three metres long and drops at least 10 metres below ground level.
Property owner Alan Vandergraff believed the hole was an old mine shaft; he previously found a mine cap in the same street while carrying out sewerage works.
“You can’t see the bottom,” Mr Vandergraff said while securing the site today.
Powercor staff were on scene this afternoon, working to stabilise the pole until the hole can be filled.
The power pole will then be removed, a Powercor spokesperson said.