Large sinkhole opens up in middle of road near Clapham Common

A large sinkhole has opened up near Clapham Common following a burst pipe, causing extensive flooding.

Emergency services have sealed off a section of Clapham Park Road in southwest London following the explosion of a pipe, according to Thames Water.

They said in a statement that it will be “difficult” to repair the road due to the size of the burst pipe.

Photos published by the water company showed a large section of the road broken off and submerged under water.

A second photo showed a significant portion of the road flooded, with fire engines positioned by the flooding.

“We’re very sorry if you’re affected by road closures at Clapham Park Road, SW4,” Thames Water wrote in a statement.

(Thames Water)

“We’re currently dealing with a burst pipe which caused a large amount of flooding to the area.

“To keep the public and our team safe, we’ve set up traffic lights while we work in the road. Sorry for the impact this may have on traffic in the area, and any delays to your journey

“Due to the size of the pipe and it's location this is going to be a difficult repair. We’ve now controlled the flow of water from the burst pipe, and a specialist team have carried out investigations to confirm the road surface is safe for us to continue with the repair.

“As soon as we confirm this we'll then dig down to the damaged section of pipe and decide how best to fix it.

“You shouldn’t notice any changes to your water supply whilst we carry out these emergency repairs and we’ll continue to update you as we work to get this resolved as quickly as possible.

“As soon as we know more, we’ll be back with an update.”