NEWSFLASH: Shock news about the closure of Sherrard Street in Melton

Sherrard Street is closed to traffic after a pipe burst on Sunday evening and flooded the road EMN-170311-105333001

Severn Trent has just given the Melton Times the shock news after initially hoping to reopen it today (Friday) with repairs being made to a burst water main.

The closure has caused tailbacks on roads around the town, particularly at rush hour time and on the busy market Tuesday.

And the water company say there will be no early easing of the situation with the repair job proving a lot more difficult than originally thought.

A Severn Trent spokesperson said this afternoon: “We’d like to apologise to all the people who are struggling with the closure of Sherrard Street.

“The burst pipe has caused an awful lot of damage to the road and the footpath, and we need to make sure that’s all put right properly before we can reopen the road.

“It’s a really big job, so we expect it to be the end of next week when we can get things back to normal.”

Some residents say the diversion signs at the Thorpe End junction have been inadequate and led to drivers of heavy goods vehicles having to turn around in the road after coming across the Sherrard Street road closure, which is between its junctions with Sage Cross Street and Windsor Street.

And Severn Trent has now reacted to the criticism by improving its signage to give drivers a clearer warning not to turn down the road from Thorpe End.

The spokesperson said: “We’ve listened to the concerns about the traffic and we’re working with the local highways team.

“Although our signage is as it needs to be, we’re going to be putting up extra signs today to warn people of the closure, which hopefully will help to stop any issues.”

Shops and other businesses in Sherrard Street have suffered a loss of trade due to the road closure and Severn Trent said it was looking at compensating them.

The spokesperson added: “We’re working with local businesses – our business compensation team was on site today, talking to people whose trade has been affected.

“We’re keen for people to get in touch with us so we can help.”

Any business owner who believes they may have been adversely affected by the road closure is asked to email [email protected] and supply details about how they have suffered.