A MYSTERIOUS sinkhole has appeared overnight at Mardy Playing Fields leaving locals baffled and the authorities nervous.

The hole which has since been covered with a traffic cone and surrounded by fencing was discovered last week by a Mardy AFC player during a training session.

Mardy AFC Vice President Clive Harry told the Chronicle, “When the player noticed it the hole was about half the size it is now. Thinking it was made by a rabbit or something one of the boys prodded it with a stick and we soon realised that it was something else entirely.”

Poking their heads beneath the sod and seeing the true enormity of the cavernous space beneath their pitch, the Mardy boys thought it would be wise to contact the authorities and get what was beginning to look a lot like a sinkhole sealed off from the public.

Wearing his other hat as Vive President of Llantilio Pertholey Community Council Chairman, Mr. Harry arranged for fences to be put up surrounding the hole and called in a surveyor to determine its exact cause.

Mr Harry explained, “Although he cannot be certain, the surveyor seems to think that the culvert which once ran nearby Mardy Playing Fields has been diverted at some point and run under this part of the pitch. It’s as dry as a bone down there at the moment but it only takes a few days of heavy rain and who knows what could happen?”

Both Monmouthshire County Council and National Resources Wales have been contacted to undertake further investigations and in the meantime, Mr Harry hopes no one will be reckless enough to ignore the fences and venture anywhere near the sinkhole.

“If you see how easy the earth gives way down there when you prod it with a stick you wouldn’t want to mess around anywhere near that hole,” he said.

“We’ve padlocked the gates to keep the kids out but they’re still jumping the fence and having a kick about. Thankfully we’ve got an extra fence around the sinkhole at the moment. Still, even so, we’re taking extra precautionary measures such as temporarily removing the goalposts from the pitch, so the kids don’t have that extra incentive to venture anywhere near the sinkhole.”

Mr Harry added, “It’s frustrating but public safety has to come first!”

As experts gather over the next few days, scratch their heads, have conversations, send emails, and strive to get to the bottom of the sinkhole’s origins and how best to fix it, Mardy AFC has been forced to reverse all their home games to away fixtures.

Mardy AFC stalwart and President Malcolm ‘Macky’ Skinner added, “If you look at the location of the hole it’s right on the sidelines. A few inches in the other direction and it wouldn’t be an issue for us, but that's the way the cookie crumbles, and as a club, we’ve dealt with bigger challenges in the past. Let’s just hope it can be sorted and soon.”