Major road into Burnley closed for a month after sink hole appeared almost ready to re-open

Workmen were today putting down the final layer of tarmac on Burnley Road in Cliviger that has been shut for almost a month.

The stretch between the railway bridge and Monarch garage was closed to traffic forcing motorists to take a de-tour around Red Lees Road to get to and from Burnley.

And while businesses in the village remained open they said the closure was affecting their trade, particularly Monarch Garage owner John Sharp who said he saw his custom drop by a third.

Barriers were erected around the sink hole when it seemed to appear overnight. It was filled in as a temporary measure and traffic lights installed to allow investigations into the cause of the sink hole, originally believed to be a pot hole, to take place.

A spokesman for Lancashire County Council said: "We inspected what was originally thought to be a pothole on Burnley Road in mid-July, however, before we had chance to repair it we had a call to let us know that it had developed into a sinkhole.

"We immediately put up barriers and have now carried out further investigation. It appears to have been caused by a collapse to a culvert.”