SIX young children have narrowly escaped plummeting down a quarter-mile deep pit shaft.

Horrified Marie Hope's six grandchildren had been playing in the garden of her Leigh council house where a three metre hole suddenly appeared.

"It's frightening to think what could have happened," said Marie, surveying the scene outside her Melrose Avenue home on the Abbey Lane estate in Westleigh. Her grandchildren Ebony Jane 3, Ben 4, Jordan 7, Becky 7, Sammy-Jo 9 and 11 year-old Sean had been playing in a paddling pool.

Marie and her friend, Terry Coleman, sensed something unusual when the big, 300 gallon pool was emptied and the water rushed away with a gurgling sound.

Then a van parked alongside the house began to sink.

The Council were alerted, experts brought in and the old, brick shored mineshaft discovered in the middle of Marie's side garden.

Experts who have bored test holes to 280 metres said the shaft could be bricked down to 400 metres. The shaft will be secured and filled from 120 metres back to ground level.

"I'm thankful the shaft has been found and nobody has been hurt. But I didn't want to move. I'm hoping to buy the house from the Council and will be happy to do so once the work has been done," said Marie.

A Council spokesman said geological experts were investigating and the problem would be rectified with public safety of paramount importance.

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