Is Rome the sinkhole capital of Europe?

When you're walking about the Italian capital Rome you're famously stepping on history wherever you go.

But its citizens are having to be more careful where they tred - or drive - because in recent years the city has been dealing with a growing number of sinkholes - about a hundred every year.

This has led the British paper, The Times, to call it the "sinkhole capital of Europe".

Its reporter in Rome, Tom Kington, says the cause is a series of historic tunnels under the city "like a block of Swiss cheese" which have been filling more regularly with water because of ageing pipes and heavier rainfall.

He told Newsday: "They go from the relatively small to the rather large. Last week, two cars were swallowed by one [sinkhole], and a couple of years ago seven cars disappeared into an extremely large one. So quite serious risk to life and limb if you're not careful."

(Photo: Two cars sunk in a chasm that opened in via Zenodossio in Rome. Credit: Getty Images)