Norwich sinkhole causes street's water main to burst

The sinkhole opened up in this residential cul-de-sac on Monday

A large sinkhole that opened up in a residential street has broken a water main and affected other utilities.

The hole, measuring 5m (16ft) in length, appeared in Whistlefish Court in Norwich on Monday and collapsed in on itself.

It caused a main to burst, leaving some residents without water for part of the day, Anglian Water said.

Norfolk County Council said the cause of the hole needed to be investigated before repairs were carried out.

The sinkhole is about 3m (10ft) deep and the road has been closed off for safety.

The hole appeared on Monday morning and opened up further in the afternoon

A number of utilities were affected, including water

Highways officials from the council have been at the site and fences at the rear of some of the houses have been removed to enable residents to drive to and from their homes.

Andy Ellis, highways area manager, said: "The area has been made safe while urgent investigations into the cause of the issue are under way.

"Once the reason for the collapse has been established repairs can then be carried out to enable the road and path to reopen as soon as possible."

It is not yet known what caused the road to collapse

An Anglian Water spokeswoman said: "Following a sinkhole in Whistlefish Court in Norwich yesterday, our water main was damaged along with a number of other utility assets, which led to some customers being without water.

"All customer water supplies have since been restored and we are waiting for highways to repair the sinkhole before we can repair our pipe."

The company had to dig holes further along the road in order to restore supplies to residents after the water main was broken.