Sinkhole closes Bournemouth town centre road
A burst water main's causing issues on Westover Road today (1st May)
A sinkhole's opened up in the middle of a Bournemouth town centre road, forcing a closure and diversions for local bus services.
The hole's appeared in Westover Road, just outside the Cote Brasserie, this lunchtime (Thursday 1st May) - due to a burst water main underground.
A BCP Council spokesperson said:
“The sinkhole on Westover Road near the junction of Gervis Road is being managed by South West Water (SWW) who own the utility and have closed the road to fix the water leak.
"BCP officers have been working with SWW to find the most suitable solutions to manage the displaced traffic, with vehicles currently being diverted via Gervis Place.”
The closure means some Morebus routes have had to be diverted. The company's said:
"Services starting from Westover (X1, X2, X3, X6 and 737) will start from the Pier bus lay-bys and enter the Square from the BH2 end, and resume their normal routes at Hinton Road.
"Services starting from The Square facing BH2/the Hilton (13, 13a, 16, 18 and 33) will start from the Triangle bus stops and enter the Square from the BH2 end, picking up from the opposite side if required (stand O) and resume their normal route from Hinton Road.
"Services that are a through route passing through the Square facing BH2/Hilton (m1, m2, 32, 50 and 70) will travel over the Pier and enter from the Square from the BH2 end, picking up from the opposite side if required (stand O) and return over the pier to resume normal route."
There's no update on how long the closure might be in place for at this stage, but engineers are on site.
A Bournemouth Water spokesperson said:
“Our teams are working to repair a burst water main as quickly as possible.
“As soon as we have fixed the pipe, we will reinstate the road so it can be reopened.
“There are no customer supplies impacted by this work.”