Six-foot deep sinkhole suddenly appears in road

Workers arrived on Tuesday afternoon to close the road and make the hole safe

Urgent repairs are being carried out on a large sinkhole that has appeared in a residential street

It opened up suddenly at about 14:00 BST on Tuesday in Balfour Road, in Kingsthorpe, Northampton.

One resident said he believed the hole - thought to be 6ft (1.8m) deep - was caused by lorries ignoring a weight limit.

Anglian Water thanked people in the area for their patience while the hole was repaired.

The hole opened up suddenly on Tuesday afternoon

David Phillips, who lives nearby, said: "The good news is that nobody was hurt in this incident [including] the van driver, who avoided the hole as it appeared."

He said the road had been damaged by heavy lorries that drive down Balfour Road, despite a 7.5 tonne weight limit.

But Mr Phillips also commended the way the situation had been dealt with.

He said: "The police officers who arrived promptly afterwards [and the] first responder from the council, Connor, are to be applauded for their warm, professional attitude throughout."

David Phillips lives very close to where the hole appeared

An Anglian Water spokesperson said: “Our teams are investigating a sinkhole on Balfour Road in Kingsthorpe, at the junction with Brockton Street.

"In order to keep our people and other road users safe while we work, we’ve closed Balfour Road, with a fully signposted diversion in place.

"We’d like to thank everyone in Kingsthorpe for their patience while we get things back to normal.”

The firm added that it could not comment on the possible cause of the hole.