Every resident affected by a sinkhole in Surrey is set to return home, a local authority has said.

Lloyd Allen, Surrey County Council’s infrastructure team manager, said those impacted by the collapse in Godstone High Street could return to their homes this weekend.

But he warned this depended on a “couple of issues” still under investigation, such as whether the water quality was up to the right standard.

Mr Allen said the local authority was still trying to establish what caused the collapse in February, but “quite a lot of anomalies” had been found underground.

He said a GPR survey, which involves sending radar pulses through the ground, had shown anomalies in the area.

“We are calling them anomalies at the moment because until we investigate further, we don’t actually know what they are,” he said.

Mr Allen suggested they could be a “series of tunnels under the road”, “deep sewers”, or “potentially soakways from properties”.

He said the council would continue its investigations over the coming weeks to determine what is happening underground.

But he warned the work, involving specialist engineers and digging boreholes, could take “several months longer”.

Matt Furniss, from Surrey County Council, said foam concrete had been used to “temporarily fill the hole to stabilise the area and ensure it doesn’t get any bigger”.

He said work was ongoing to determine “how best to permanently repair the area so it doesn’t reoccur”.

The cabinet member for highways, transport, and economic growth thanked residents for their patience as the local authority dealt with the “complex” and “unprecedented” incident.