Little Walsingham sinkhole still not repaired after 10 weeks

A sinkhole caused by a burst water main has still not been repaired - almost three months after it appeared.

The large hole on Cleaves Drive in Little Walsingham, Norfolk, was first reported to Norfolk County Council and Anglian Water on 24 June.

But resident Peter Jackson said both authorities had failed to fix the problem.

Both the county council and the water company have apologised to local residents.

Mr Jackson told BBC Radio Norfolk that he alerted Anglian Water after a sinkhole opened up in June and spray from the burst water main damaged a neighbour's boiler.

"We managed to put some wheelie bins around the hole to stop people coming in and towards the evening they managed to get the water turned off," he said.

An emergency water supply was put in for bungalows cut off in the area and engineers returned to repair the main pipe, he said.

But Mr Jackson said the hole - thought to be 20ft (6m) deep - had already widened and was "undermining the tarmac on the road".

"You could lose a car in it," he said.

Neighbours Peter and Marlene Keeling said they had to get industrial cleaners in after the "brown, sloshy water" flooded their kitchen and destroyed the outside boiler.

"I didn't expect things to be done in five minutes - and I'm reasonably patient - but it's coming up to 11 weeks now and I want some answers," Mr Jackson added.

A Norfolk County Council spokesman said it was "in dialogue with Anglian Water to undertake the required work to repair the road".

"We apologise for the delay and appreciate everyone's patience, and we understand the upheaval this has caused to local residents. We aim to bring an end to the matter as soon as possible," he said.

Anglian Water also apologised, saying: "We carried out emergency repairs to our pipework, completing work to fix a burst water main several weeks ago, and are currently in liaison with highways concerning repairs they now need to complete to the road in order to make it safe and have it reopened."

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