Updated 12:48pm 30 April 2012

Grand Canyon of Durham riddle

Academics are trying to work out exactly how a farmer’s field was split in two by a huge trench as millions of gallons of floodwater suddenly tore through the land.

Locals dubbed the 200-yard long phenomenon the Grand Canyon of Durham after it suddenly appeared overnight in the green belt beside the River Wear, downstream from the city centre.

It ripped a 15ft-deep gully through the land farmed by Houghall College and could have gouged out the earth by moving as quickly as walking pace.

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