[0]Tunnel collapse site 2

Walking on Hackney Marshes is becoming a hazardous activity. Recently a boy playing on the Marshes found the ground under his feet gave way and he fell into a pit six feet deep. However, this had nothing to do with the action of water or the return of the bog. Instead the cavity was the result of a cave-in of the tunnel recently dug to hide the high voltage cables which stretch over the Olympic Park.

This is not the first time a crack has opened up in the earth at Hackney Marsh following the subterranean digging. On 27th March 2007 pitch D18 suddenly opened up to reveal a thirteen metre deep hole when the tunnel underneath collapsed. A few days later Messers Higgins and Coe emerged clothed in construction gear and hard hats from a different hole in the same tunnel as part of a publicity stunt put on for the media and declared the tunnel for the cables had been completed. No-one, including the media, mentioned the fiasco which was being hurriedly concealed barely a mile away. That's our boys!

Julian Cheyne

[0]Tunnel collapse site on football pitch.

Footballer Takes a Dive Into Hole on Pitch, Hackney Gazette, 25 Jan 2008

FEARS have been raised over the safety of Hackney Marshes after the ground gave way beneath a 15-year-old boy's feet on Sunday, plunging him into a six-foot hole. It is believed that the hole may have been caused by tunnelling to bury overhead power cables beneath the Marshes 14 months ago as part of a £50 million project for the 2012 Olympics.

Hackney Council, which manages the Marshes, has been forced to close off two football pitches on North Marsh and carry out inspections each weekend amid safety fears of further cave-ins

George Beggs was playing for Broadwater FC on pitch 17 when the ground suddenly disappeared under him in the last minute of the first half of a game against Newham Rangers. He described his shock and horror to the Gazette, saying: "There was a goal kick and one boy from my team called me over because there was a dip in the pitch. "I tapped the pitch and just fell through."

Quick reflexes meant that George, who lives in Enfield, Middlesex, did not fall all the way down into the deep hole. However, in stopping his fall, the promising young footballer, who has had trials for Charlton Athletic, hurt his right ankle, meaning he is out of action for the time being

See more at: Hackney Gazette [1]