Sinkhole appears outside regional South Australian supermarket

A sinkhole has opened up in the footpath outside a regional South Australian supermarket.

The small sinkhole emerged in the town of Gawler, about 42km north of Adelaide, on Friday morning.

South Australia Police used social media to alert residents to the sinkhole, which is located on the northbound side of Murray St near the entrance of a Coles.

Traffic has been diverted down Cowan St and motorists have been warned to expect delays.

A sinkhole forms in the ground when water dissolves surface rock or something else triggers the collapse of the surface layer.

A sinkhole can range anywhere between a slight depression, through to an enormous hole reaching down hundreds of metres with the ability to swallow a building.

The world’s deepest sinkhole is the Xiaozhai Tiankeng, also known as the Heavenly Pit, in China, reaching down 626m.