Egerton: Sinkhole opens up on Briggs Fold Road

Residents said the sinkhole appeared yesterday (Sunday) morning at the bottom of Briggs Fold Road in Egerton, near to its junction with Blackburn Road.

Police reportedly attended to close the road off, according to a neighbour, before workmen arrived to tape off the area where it has appeared.

United Utilities are now to carry out an investigation.

The sinkhole (Image: Public)

One resident said: "On Sunday morning there was just a hole. A motorist stopped and blocked the road, they were on the phone and the police arrived. Shortly after the council came and put up barriers.

"Police blocked the road at the junction. The hole is about the size of a doormat.

"Previously, just next to it, there was a sinkhole a couple of years ago. They sorted it within a week.

"It seems to be happening more often doesn't it, with the extreme weather." 

A covering over the hole (Image: Newsquest)

Another resident said: "It was Sunday morning. Someone came and cordoned it off, a car stopped in the middle of the road." 

One neighbour said they had to move their car further up the street, as the cordon is now blocking their drive. 

A spokesperson for Bolton Council said: “The hole was reported to the council yesterday morning and subsequently barriered off.

“We believed it to be a sewer collapse and it has been reported to United Utilities to investigate and repair." 

Barriers blocking off part of the road (Image: Newsquest)

A United Utilities spokesperson said: “A sinkhole has been reported to us on Briggs Fold Road and our engineers will be attending to investigate.”

This comes after a huge sinkhole opened up on Heywood Road in Prestwich. 

The hole, which blocked most of the width of the road, stopped traffic and left passers-by shocked and amazed by the sheer size of it.