Queensland couple Ray and Lynn McKay awoke yesterday to find a sinkhole in their back yard.

The pensioners looked on as the back lawn of the property they have lived in for 25 years got smaller, while the sinkhole got bigger, increasing from one metre to eight metres in diameter in a few hours.

The yard was cordoned off by officials as surveyors and engineering experts were called in.

According to experts the street, aptly named Coal Street, might be sitting above a disused mine.

Experts have ruled out that the McKay's house will be affected by the sinkhole, but it is creeping ever closer to that Australian icon, the Hills Hoist rotary clothes line.