Memes flood in after Sutton resident slams ‘disgraceful and dangerous’ pothole

The giant hole outside the New Cross pub on Mansfield Road, Sutton, went viral as creative residents photoshopped all manner of different people and creatures inside – including Nessie and Titanic characters Jack and Rose.

Nottinghamshire Council, the county highways authority, said the problem had been caused by a burst water main.

Coun Neil Clarke, council cabinet member for transport and environment, said: “We did make a safety repair to a road surface defect on site on December 21.

“At the time, it was a much smaller area and there was nothing to indicate the issue was caused by a burst water main.

“We were subsequently made aware of a large hole in the road surface on December 27 and our emergency response team attended the site and made it safe with barriers around the affected area.

“We’ve undertaken further investigations on December 28 and found the damage has not been caused by a road defect, but by a burst water main, which is the responsibility of Severn Trent Water, rather than the council.

“Even during attendance by the emergency response team onDecember 27, it wasn’t apparent a water main was the cause – this only became evident today when water was seen bubbling up through the hole.

“Severn Trent Water is aware of the issue.

“A road closure is now in place on Mansfield Road between the junctions of Redcliffe Street and Dalestorth Street until 4pm on Friday, December 30 while repairs are made.”

Road users are advised to use Downing Street and Mansfield Road as an alternative route.

Coun Samantha Deakin, Ashfield Council member for Sutton Central and New Cross, said: “Over the Christmas period, Coun David Hennigan and I were inundated with complaints about the New Cross crater.

“The county council came out a few days before Christmas to fix it.

“It then deteriorated to the point that it was dangerous to go down Outram Street and neighbouring roads.”

The hole has been described by a resident as ‘disgraceful and dangerous’ – causing many drivers to avoid one of the busiest roads in Sutton.

Vicki Heslop, a Sutton resident who got in touch with her councillors, said: “As a local resident, I try to avoid Outram Street when I can.

“It’s in a terrible state and this pothole was the worst I’ve ever seen.

“I hope it can be resurfaced properly as soon as possible.”

A Severn Trent spokesperson said: “We apologise for any inconvenience caused by the burst pipe on the corner of Mansfield Road and Outram Street in Sutton in Ashfield as we know how busy this junction is.

“We managed to agree to a road closure yesterday morning (Wednesday, December 28) and our teams managed to complete the repair to the pipe by 2:30pm the same day.

“It is now our priority to get the road reinstated as soon as possible – as this takes place, the road closure of Mansfield Road between the junctions of Redcliffe Street and Dalestorth Street will remain in place to

keep Severn Trent engineers and other road users safe.

“Again, we’re really sorry for the inconvenience caused by this as we know this is a busy road – it’s a priority for us to get the reinstatement completed and Mansfield Road re-opened as soon as possible.”