A large hole has opened up in a Nottinghamshire street following a burst water main - leaving the road cordoned off with barriers and cones in place. A closure order has also been served at the location of the 4 foot deep hole the corner of Mansfield Road and Outram Street, outside the New Cross Pub in Sutton-in-Ashfield.
As the burst water main is in the middle of the carriageway, the road is closed in both directions between Redcliffe Street and Dalestorth Street. The road will be closed until Friday, December 30, the earliest.
It comes as the crater went viral on Facebook - with residents photoshopping it into a scene from Titanic. Another put the Loch Ness Monster in the four foot crater.
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The incident has prompted Councillor Samantha Deakin, who represents Sutton Central and New Cross for the Ashfield Independents, to repeat her demand for Outram Street, Sutton-in-Ashfield to be finally resurfaced.
However the county council said inspections found the damage has not been caused by a road defect but by a burst water main, which is the responsibility of Severn Trent Water rather than Nottinghamshire County Council.
Severn Trent said it is working to get the road re-opened as soon as possible.
Councillor Neil Clarke, Nottinghamshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport and Environment, said: “We did make a safety repair to a road surface defect on site on Mansfield Road in Sutton in Ashfield on Wednesday 21 December.
“At the time it was a much smaller area and there was nothing to indicate that the issue was caused by a burst water main. We were subsequently made aware of a large hole in the road surface yesterday (Tuesday 27 December) and our emergency response team attended the site and made it safe with barriers around the affected area.
“We’ve undertaken further investigations this morning (Wednesday 28th December) and found the damage has not been caused by a road defect but by a burst water main, which is the responsibility of Severn Trent Water rather than Nottinghamshire County Council.
“Even during attendance by the emergency response team last night (Tuesday), it wasn’t apparent that the water main was the cause. This only became evident today when water was seen bubbling up through the hole.
“Severn Trent Water is aware of the issue and will be making an emergency repair as soon as possible. A road closure is now in place on Mansfield Road between the junctions of Redcliffe Street and Dalestorth Street until 4pm on Friday 30 December whilst repairs are made.
“Road users are advised to use Downing Street and Mansfield Road as an alternative route."
Councillor Deakin said Outram Street is one of her transport priorities from next year. Councillor Deaking, alongside her team of Independent councillors and residents have reported pot-holes on the street – one of the gateways to Sutton-in-Ashfield Town Centre.
Ashfield Independent Councillor Samantha Deakin said, “Over the Christmas period, Councillor David Hennigan and I were inundated with complaints about the New Cross crater. The County Council came out a few days before Christmas to fix it. It then deteriorated to the point that it was dangerous to go down Outram Street. I am pleased that after we frantically got in touch – it was made safer. They now need to sort it out once and for all and accelerate my formal request to fully resurface Outram Street as an emergency.”
Sutton resident Vicki Heslop, was one of the residents who got in touch with her local councillors. She said: “As a local resident, I try and avoid Outram Street when I can. It’s in a terrible state and this pot-hole was the worst I’ve ever seen. Residents were going nuts. I hope that it can be resurfaced properly as soon as possible.”
A Severn Trent spokesperson said: “We apologise for any inconvenience caused by the burst pipe on the corner of Mansfield Road and Outram Street in Sutton in Ashfield as we know how busy this junction is. We managed to agree a road closure this morning and our teams managed to complete the repair to the pipe by 2:30pm this afternoon.
"It is now our priority to get the road reinstated as soon as possible – as this takes place, the road closure of on Mansfield Road between the junctions of Redcliffe Street and Dalestorth Street will remain in place to keep Severn Trent engineers and other road users safe.
"Again, we’re really sorry for the inconvenience caused by this as we know this is a busy junction - it's a priority for us to get the reinstatement completed and Outram Street re-opened as soon as possible."
A county council spokesperson said residents can report a pothole via Report a pothole | Nottinghamshire County Council.
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