THREE children narrowly escaped injury when their garden collapsed underneath them.

The Rashbrook family were playing in an inflatable pool in Sunday afternoon’s searing heat when their father Glen noticed the bottom of the pool sagging.

He pulled Mitchell, 10, seven-year-old Connor and Adrian, six, to safety as a four feet deep round hole appeared in the lawn.

None of the children were hurt, but Mr Rashbrook said he could not bear to think about what might have happened.

He said: “It’s a big pool, and took my eldest son and I nearly an hour to empty.

“If the bottom had split one of the younger children could have been trapped underneath in four feet of water.

“At the bottom of the hole is another hollow section.

“I prodded it with a stick but have no idea how far down it goes.”

“It shakes me up to think about what could have happened if they hadn’t got out in time.”

It is the second hole to appear in the garden in Ethelbert Road, Cliftonville. Last year Mr Rashbrook noticed a smaller one near the gate. He filled it in, but is reluctant to do so again.

He said: “Until I know what’s causing this, I don’t want to just fill it in and carry on. “What’s to stop it happening again and again?”

The family bought the house five years ago, but there is nothing on the property deeds to provide a solution.

Mr Rashbrook said: “These houses were built in about 1820, so there could be all sorts of things in its history, but I have not heard of this happening elsewhere in the area.”

Mr Rashbrook has contacted Thanet Council’s Building Control department, and the Land Registry to ask for an investigation into the problem.