ROAD repairs are finally being made after a sinkhole first appeared on Parklands Road in Wellington in May of last year.

After a nine month wait for residents, Somerset Council’s highways team and contractors from construction company Kier Group have arrived at the scene and say repairs should be finished by the end of the week.

A Kier employee at the scene, who did not want to give his full name, said the sinkhole was caused by a partially collapsed joint between two pipes under the road from which water was able to leak out and wash away everything beneath it.

He said on Wednesday (February 19): “If it all goes okay, it’ll be done by the end of the week.”

The crater, which emerged after Parkland Road’s surface collapsed, was condoned off with cones and barriers by Somerset Council on Monday, June 3, for repairs that week.

Wessex Water said it had visited the scene at the time to put safety barriers and cones in place and confirmed there were no issues with the water or sewerage pipes.

Somerset Council announced plans to reinstate the carriageway void to surface level for the week commencing Monday, October 28 - work which was not undertaken and signage reporting the repairs was later removed.

Residents said they were “annoyed and frustrated” by the continued delays, fearing the road would have collapsed further if left in disrepair.

Somerset Council said there was no fixed date for the sinkhole’s repairs “due to the complexity of the issue” last week.

But six days later (Wednesday, February 19) an urgent notice for the closure of the road was announced by Somerset Council so that work could be undertaken from February 19-20.

The work would formally require a road closure but it in fact remains open with only a partial closure to enable repairs to be completed.

Gwyn Hughes, from Somerset Council’s highways office, said the repairs would involve securing the joint and filling in the hole.

He said: “The cavity hasn’t just happened, it’s happened over many years. It was likely forced by the presence of a heavier vehicle.

“Unfortunately, there are lots of cavities under the roads that we don’t know about.

“We’ve obviously been aware of the problem. But it’s resources and scheduling it and fitting it in with other works.

“Although we appreciate this is an inconvenience, it’s just about getting the resources together to act on it.”

The Kier employee also indicated that sinkholes left in disrepair often attract rats, which can ultimately cause further damage.

He said: “The thing with this problem is, rats come and make a home out of it and create loads of tunnels, which can cause more problems.”

There is no indication that rats have appeared at the Parklands Road site.

Herbie said: “It’s not as bad as I thought it was going to be.”

A Parklands Road resident, who has taken to editing photos of the site for various festive occasions, Mike Green, said: “It’s about time.”