A DRIVER has described the dramatic moment he watched a giant sink hole open up in the middle of a road in Grays.

Robert Arnett watched in horror as a lorry drove over what looked to be a dip in the surface of Hogg Lane, Grays, but when the road to then start fall away, it left behind a “bottomless” three-metre wide hole.

Mr Anett, 65, of Lampits Hill, Corringham, said the event, which occured around 1pm today, was a scary experience.

He was driving towards Grays when their car hit what he called a “dip” nearly two-feet deep, causing damage to the underside of his Saab.

Mr Arnett returned to the scene straight away to take photos for his insurance company and to give to Thurrock Council, when a lorry veered around his vehicle and went over the dip.

He said: “It hit the dip first with a real bang. If I hadn’t been parked where I was maybe the lorry wouldn’t have gone over the dip.”

He added: “If it wasn’t the lorry the next car that went over it could have gone down the hole.”

Typically, Mr Arnett only bought his car over the weekend.

He added: “We saw the hole open up right in front of us, it was really scary. We couldn’t even see the bottom.”

No-one was hurt in the incident and the lorry driver was not trapped in his vehicle.

It is believed a nearby gas main pipe may have been affected after fire fighters at the scene reported smells of gas.

The road is expected to be closed for a “number of weeks”.

Station Officer Richard Maddams, incident commander, said: "Right now we are leaving the lorry exactly where it is until surveyors can come in and inpsect the road before the lorry is safely moved.

"There are gas mains in the road so it's important that we are careful about moving the lorry and so it's safer to leave it where it is until we know more about the condition of the road."