Shock for drivers as sinkhole appears on busy road into Burnley

Barriers have been erected around the hole, which has been filled in as a temporary measure, in Burnley Road, Cliviger, and traffic lights installed to allow repairs 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 another call from a member of the public to let us know that it had developed into a sinkhole overnight.

"We immediately put up barriers to make the area safe and have now carried out further investigations and it appears to have been caused by a collapse to a culvert under the road.

"We have backfilled the hole as a temporary measure while we schedule the repairs needed.

"The temporary traffic signals will be needed until this is completed. We're sorry for the disruption.”