A SHOCKED couple discovered their car sinking into the road outside their home.

Lesley Wood and Richard Greaves returned home from shopping and parked their car outside their home, Pump House, in Kirkby Malzeard, North Yorkshire, to unload it.

After they took some items in, they went back out to find the ground had opened up beneath the car.

Ms Wood said: "We came back out and saw the front end had sagged down. We thought it was a bit strange and thought it had sunk into the tarmac.

"My partner reversed the car back out and I said, 'oh my God, there's a well there'. It has still got water in the bottom.

"You do not expect to find a well outside your front door. The house is very old, about 16th Century, so we thought there might be wells somewhere, but we didn't think for one minute it would be there.

"It is quite impressive when you look down. It probably drops about 20ft and then you can see the water."

The couple placed an old door over the hole until someone from North Yorkshire County Council's highways department could go out to check it.

A council spokesman said: "We have made it safe with a board, and one of the inspectors from highways will be going out there to work out what it is.

"It does look like an old well. Once we have established what it is, we will know what to do about it."

The Pump House is also home to Mr Greaves and Ms Wood's business, Rack and Ruin, which makes wine racks.

It came about after former chef Mr Greaves and Ms Wood renovated their home.

They discovered they could not find a wine rack that suited its style, so set about creating their own.