A SUPERMARKET was evacuated after a sinkhole opened up in a city which is known for the phenomenon.

The hole opened up in an alleyway at the back of the Sainsbury’s supermarket in Ripon on Tuesday morning.

Luckily nobody was walking in the area when the ground opened up to reveal a hole several feet deep.

Emergency services said that there were no injuries reported.

Police and the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service remained at the scene throughout the day and the supermarket was evacuated and remained closed.

The area was cordoned off and the police used a drone in an attempt to gather aerial footage to assist in the investigating into the depth of the hole and the extent of damage.

A spokesman for Harrogate Borough Council said it is offering its support but the responsibility for restoring the land rests with the landowner, West Court properties and Sainsbury’s.

Officials from the council’s emergency planning department were at the scene throughout the day as engineers carried out structural surveys.

Until the extent of the damage is fully known, it is difficult to estimate how long the repair operation will take, the spokesman said.

He added: “It is on Sainsbury’s land, it is down to the landowner; one side it is Sainsbury’s and the other side is West Court properties, they own the shopping arcade so it is down to the two of them to work out the best way of dealing with it.”

He said that once it had been established that nobody was injured in the incident, the main concern was for the police to make the area safe and secure from public access overnight.

A spokesman for Sainsbury's said late on Tuesday afternoon: “We can confirm our Ripon store is currently closed while structural engineers assess the site.”

A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said that the force helped keep the area safe but the investigation was left in the hands of the engineers.

Ripon is well-known for sinkholes.

In 2016, a pensioner almost fell into a 30ft deep sinkhole in her back garden in Magdelen’s Road.

In February this year another hole opened up at Ripon Leisure Centre.

The British Geological Survey said Ripon is one of the most susceptible areas of the UK for sinkholes because of its permian gypsum deposits.