Homeowners in Leyton were surprised when a huge hole opened in the middle of their road earlier this month.
The tarmac surface in Lea Hall Road collapsed leaving a gaping hole a few feet deep, other areas of the road also suffered cracks after the sewer with ran beneath the road collapsed.
Drainage engineers attended the scene and the road was closed off to traffic while repairs took place. However, residents did raise some questions about the amount of maintenance the sewers in their roads receive.
Speaking in the local Guardian newspaper, one resident said:
“If a car or pedestrian had been going over at the time who knows what would’ve happened.
“It makes you wonder how well maintained these things are and how often the authorities check them.
“This could happen elsewhere but the consequences could be far worse, there could be a nasty accident.
“We were fortunate it was spotted quickly and perhaps if the road surface hadn’t cracked in the heat we wouldn’t have even seen it.”
A spokesperson for Thames Water responded:
“We are working in Lea Hall Road to repair a collapsed sewer pipe which caused a hole to appear in the road surface above.
“We aim to have this fixed as soon as possible.
“We are really sorry for any inconvenience and would like to thank people for bearing with us.”