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Road closed by third sinkhole in 10 years

Richard Steadin Prestwich
News imageBBC A close-up of a sinkhole on a tarmac road. Large cracks have been ringfenced by orange and white traffic barriers. A cardboard box sits on the slope between the two cracks. Residential houses can be seen in the background.BBC
The sinkhole has been cordoned off and there are diversions in place

Once again, a sinkhole has appeared on a road in a town in Greater Manchester - marking the third time the same road has been impacted over the course of 10 years.

Heywood Road in Prestwich, Bury, has been closed, and traffic diverted, after two or three large cracks caused the tarmac to dip dramatically.

It is the third sinkhole on the road within a decade, with one first appearing in 2016 and another occurring on the same street in 2023.

The area has been cordoned off while the utility company assesses the site "to determine the cause".

News imageA close-up of the current sinkhole, with a red and white 'Road Closed' sign in front of a cordoned off area in the middle of a residential street.
A sinkhole has twice previously appeared on Heywood Road prior to the collapse this month - once in 2016 and again in 2023

The previous sinkholes, in 2016 and 2023, followed sewer collapses.

A United Utilities spokesperson said: "We have engineers on site carrying out further assessments to determine the cause of the sinkhole and establish whether it is linked to any United Utilities assets."

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