RATS could be seen scurrying from a car-sized sinkhole in the middle of a town centre road.

The shocking footage shows the gurgling hole spluttering onto the tarmac in Crouch Lane, Seaford.

The incident happened yesterday afternoon around 12pm with people capturing footage of tarmac slabs sliding into the brown liquid.

One passerby told The Argus that the hole was “getting wider really fast”.

The Argus: The sinkhole started overflowing as more tarmac fell inThe sinkhole started overflowing as more tarmac fell in

Nick Meldrum, who captured the footage, said he saw “lots of rats evacuating” from the “massive” sinkhole.

A spokeswoman for East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service (ESFRS) said crews from Newhaven were called at 12.15pm to a “suspected sinkhole in the road”.

Another passerby said: “It’s across the entire space of the road, it’s quite a narrow road."

The Argus: One of the rats scurrying out to two people filming the sinkholeOne of the rats scurrying out to two people filming the sinkhole

The cordon remained in place around the sinkhole while ESFRS drained it yesterday. It still remains today.

A spokesman for Sussex Police added that it is unclear when the road will reopen.

The spokesman said: “At 1pm on Thursday, August 11, police responded to a call from East Sussex Fire & Rescue to attend Crouch Lane, Seaford, owing to a sinkhole.

“The road is closed and it is not yet known when it will re-open.”

Another person said it was “a bit frightening for residents”.

Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate James MacCleary said “our road and sewage infrastructure is literally collapsing around us”.

He has asked for East Sussex County Council to confirm it was addressing the sinkhole urgently.

East Sussex County Council, which manages roads in the area, has been approached for comment.