City road closed after sinkhole suddenly opens up
Beaconsfield Road in Norwich was closed after a sinkhole opened up. - Credit: Simon Parkin
A sinkhole has forced the closure of a residential street in Norwich while further investigations take place into its safety.
The gaping hole appeared in the tarmac on Beaconsfield Road sometime on Wednesday evening.
The road is set to remain closed until next week, when the hole can be repaired.
Residents said they had been forced to stop traffic amid fears of a further collapse.
Martin Lippiatt, whose house overlooks the new hole in the road, said: “A lady was walking down the road and noticed it and called the council.
"I was out here last night stopping traffic coming down the road because we were worried the tarmac would give way and a car might disappear down a bigger hole.
"It looks like a small hole at the surface but that doesn’t show the full extent of just how large it is underneath.”
Most Read
- 1 'Awe and disbelief' as thousands of bees swarm pub garden
- 2 U-turn on city bike shop closure
- 3 Which parts of Norwich could be underwater by 2030?
- 4 Fireworks, food stalls and music planned for jubilee party near Norwich
- 5 School sacks suspended teacher after investigation and petition
- 6 New images show progress of Sweet Briar Road repair
- 7 Man accused of murder refuses to appear in court
- 8 First look inside five-acre bug zoo - and you can take a creepy crawly home
- 9 Jailed this week: County lines gang and man found with cocaine in his car
- 10 Dad left fuming as royal flag stolen weeks before jubilee weekend
The terrace house-lined road, which runs from Sprowston Road to Silver Road, was partially closed between Spencer Street and Sprowston Road on Thursday morning.
Engineers from Norfolk County Council were inspecting the site to discover whether it had been caused by a water leak or by underlying problems.
A Norfolk County Council spokesperson, said: “We expect to be able to carry out repairs to the road next week once detailed investigations into the issue are complete.
"Vehicles will be able to access Beaconsfield Road via Spencer Street until the work is finished and the road can be fully reopened.”
Norwich has a history of sinkholes occurring where chalk bedrock is near the surface.
This latest sinkhole follows a series of holes opening up Angel Road, also in the north of the city, close to the spot where a burst water main caused problems six months ago.
Meanwhile work is continuing to repair a giant four-metre deep sinkhole that appeared suddenly in Frere Road Park in Heartsease earlier this month.
And most famously, in 1988 a chalk mine collapsed under Earlham Road, with a major sinkhole forming which swallowed a double decker bus.