Birmingham sinkhole: Repair work on Selly Oak burst pipe begins

Thousands of gallons of water flooded Harborne Lane, causing the road to collapse

A burst pipe that created a sinkhole in a Birmingham road is now being repaired, Severn Trent Water has announced.

Thousands of gallons of water flooded Harborne Lane in Selly Oak after a water main burst in November.

Around 10 homes were damaged as water gushed through doors, with numerous cars trapped.

Severn Trent said repairs have begun and are expected to be finished by mid-February.

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Engineers are aiming to fix the pipe while maintaining water supplies across the city.

Paul Baldwyn, area operations manager, said once the pipe is repaired work will begin on fully reopening Harborne Lane, which is expected to last until the end of next month.

"We absolutely understand the frustrations of those affected by the burst and the subsequent road diversion, and we know it's been going on for a long time, but we want to reassure everyone that we have been working hard on this in the background constantly since the burst happened," he said.

"We know that this is really inconvenient for everyone and we can only say sorry for this."