Commuters and residents voice sinkhole frustration

A sinkhole on a major commuter route is preventing people from getting to and from work, impacting local businesses and making local residents feel unsafe, it has been claimed.

Bury New Road in Prestwich, Bury, has been closed since Tuesday after a hole opened above a cavity estimated to be about 110ft (33m) in length.

The road, which is often gridlocked at at peak times, links Prestwich to the M60 and Manchester city centre.

Local resident Malcolm Sidebottom said: "I've never seen anything like this before in 50 years of living in Prestwich."

Mr Sidebottom said everything was "very, very eerily quiet".

"The last [sinkhole] I saw like this... the road was closed for many months.

"You want the community to go back to normal as soon as possible, the local businesses will be affected."

Peter Collins, who owns a business next to the sinkhole, said his regular bus journey to work had been rendered impossible because of the diversions that had been put in place.

He said he had been forced to call a friend to pick him up and drive him to work.

"Over the last week it's just been a joke," he complained.

"We've not been able to do anything, we've not been able to get to and from work."

Mr Collins said he was concerned the sinkhole, which residents said had grown massively since it first appeared last week, would expand to the road under his business premises.

"I don't feel safe as such because of the size of the hole," he explained.

A Bury Council spokesperson said: "We are doing everything we can to resolve this problem as soon as possible.

"Our initial investigations have shown a sewer pipe to be in disrepair, with multiple cracks and slippages along 22m of its length.

"We are working with United Utilities to resolve the issue, and the road will remain closed for the next few days while investigations continue."

The spokesperson said diversion routes would remain in place until further notice, and advised motorists to avoid the area wherever possible and to allow extra time for their journeys.

United Utilities said its engineers had identified that the void had been cased by "erosion of the sand foundations of the road".

A spokesperson added: "There has been no evidence of any leakage from the sewer network found and no evidence of erosion around the pipe.

"Our teams are going to carry out a minor repair this afternoon to avoid any potential for infiltration into the network and Bury Council will be carrying out further remedial works and reinstating the road."

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