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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
National
James McNeill

Merseyside road still closed weeks after sinkhole opened

A road in a Merseyside town has been closed "for weeks" after a sinkhole was discovered.

A large part of Victoria Road in Formby has been closed after a cordon appeared around a sinkhole. The cordon which is still in place has left a large part of Victoria Road closed off to traffic.

MP for Sefton Bill Esterson has now called for action to be taken soon as it "needs to reopen" with one resident stating that the traffic in the surrounding area has been "awful".

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In a tweet, he said: "My constituents living near the Freshfield level crossing need Network Rail to make safety arrangements so United Utilities can fix a collapsed drain near the railway line. The road has been closed for weeks and needs to reopen. Please intervene."

Speaking to the ECHO a spokesperson for United Utilities said the cause of the sinkhole on Victoria Road has been identified as a "defect on the sewer network". While residents have been left frustrated at the lack of work taking place to fix the problem United Utilities said they are waiting on "necessary permissions from Network Rail".

They said: “Once we have the necessary permissions from Network Rail our teams will be working hard to repair this before reinstating and reopening the road. We appreciate how frustrating this must be for local residents and we’d like to apologise for any inconvenience caused.”

A Network Rail spokesperson said: “We’re sorry for passengers, road users and local people who’ve been impacted by the temporary road closure near Freshfield station after a sinkhole appeared. We’ve been working closely with water provider United Utilities while it carried out its initial investigations and drew up a repair plan. We’re confident this work can be done safely while not impacting on the railway so its engineers can get on fixing the road as soon as possible.”

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