Secret WWII tunnels damaging road

Lewes District Council says the private road is not its responsibility

Fears that wartime tunnels under an East Sussex road could collapse have forced a council to ban refuse lorries from collecting until repairs are done.

The underground network at Newhaven was a secret Naval base, HMS Forward, which was used in World War II to monitor vessels in the English Channel.

The tunnels run under Glynde Close, part of which has sunk into a shaft, but no-one knows who owns them.

Lewes District Council said the private road was not its responsibility.

Four years ago, some local residents had wanted the tunnels opened to the public, but the attempt failed and they have not been used since, nor maintained.

A survey has since shown some areas above the tunnel, which runs between Glynde Close and Heighton Crescent, are corroding because of a lack of ventilation.

'Soaking wet'

Councillor Peter Gardiner said the safety concerns were to do with the pillboxes - small structures which were designed for defensive purposes.

He said heavy lorries had been stopped from going over the affected parts of the road.

"There was a dustcart using that, so it doesn't any more.

"We don't think that any of the pillboxes will be affected by pedestrian movement over the top, but the important thing is we've discovered a problem.

"We don't know who owns the particular piece of road and therefore the district council is doing the sensible thing and taking action," he said.

Resident Paul Harris, who said his house had already lost value and has been campaigning for the tunnels to be filled in, is calling for a wider survey of the area.

He said he had been underground and the tunnels were "soaking wet".

World War II radar operators helped to plot the D-Day landings in the tunnels, whose secrets did not come to light until after the war.