Severn Trent gives expected date for reopening of Thorpe Road

A sign advising of the closure of Thorpe Road

Thorpe Road has been closed for almost a month since a collapsed sewer was found to have caused a large sink hole in mid-December.

MP Alicia Kearns has been liaising with the water company and Leicestershire County Council and she had pledges that the work could be done as early as this week.

But Severn Trent told the Melton Times this morning (Tuesday) that the work is not likely to be completed until next Monday, January 16, to enable the road to reopen.

Traffic diverting around the Thorpe Road closure via Stafford Avenue

The company has finished repairs on the damaged sewer pipe and work teams will now remove the tankers and equipment which were installed to keep the sewer flowing and will backfill the excavation and reinstate the road surface.

The work has taken so long, it says, because of the complexity of the scheme.

Matt Lewis, network operations manager at Severn Trent, said: “We’d like to apologies for any inconvenience caused while we’ve been making this repair and thank the local community for their patience and understanding, this has been a really complex repair, which required a deep excavation to reach the damaged pipe.

“We understand how disruptive road closures and diversions can be for everyone and our teams have worked hard to ensure that this repair has been made as quickly and as safely as possible.”

A signed diversionary route has been in place throughout the works and the company say it has been keeping residents up to speed on the works through regular letter drops to homes on Thorpe Road.

Angry Motorists have been frustrated by lengthy delays through having to use the back streets of King’s Road, Algernon Road and Stafford Avenue to divert around the stretch of Thorpe Road which is closed for the sewer and highway repairs.

A number of residents have reported their vehicles being damaged as a result of the density of traffic now using the residential streets.

The closure has impacted people trying to access their homes, parents on the school run at Brownlow Primary, patients and visitors attending Melton Mowbray Hospital, shoppers using Tesco and drivers heading out of the town towards the Vale of Belvoir and Grantham.