This is why the Hoghton sinkhole will take months to repair, even after lockdown is over
The sinkhole in Bells Lane was first reported in February when the road suddenly collapsed after weeks of heavy rainfall.
It has since been cordoned off with plastic barriers and metal fencing, preventing motorists, cyclists and pedestrians from accessing Bells Lane.
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Hide AdThe Council has scaled back its road repairs during lockdown, but has continued with "safety-critical repairs" such as potholes.
But it is now warning that the sinkhole will not be a quick fix and could still demand months of planning before it can be repaired.
A Council spokesman said: "The answer as to why we haven't completed this particular repair is due to the amount of planning needed before we can do it.
"It's quite a significant bit of work, and currently with our design team, so is a project in itself and not a day-to-day repair.
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Hide Ad"Even without COVID-19 we wouldn't have done this piece of work yet due to the amount of design work and planning needed to repair the drainage system."
"Repair of a culvert collapse such as this in normal times would take careful planning and this would be even more difficult in the current circumstances, however we will look to programme repairs as soon as the restrictions due to COVID-19 allow.
"We're sorry for any inconvenience in the meantime due to the road closure."