A large section of a major high street has been closed throughout the day after a large hole opened up.

St Peter’s Street, part of Canterbury’s main high street, has been blocked since 9am this morning as Kent Highways deal with a “collapse in the carriageway”.

It comes after 16 days of work by Southern Water on St Peter’s Street which had recently been completed. But crews returned this morning after the hole appeared.

Shopkeepers were woken up to the “shouting and screaming” of utility workers as they discovered a large hole had opened up in the area of the road they had been working on.

The original repairs had been required after the basement of Mezze Bar & Grill flooded last month.

Manager Antonino Coppola told KentOnline the resulting road works has had serious repercussions for his business.

He said: “Usually we have tables outside and people sitting out there eating, but now people don’t even know if we are open or not.

“We are losing tables and customers – it’s costing us 70% of our business.”

The works were completed on May 3, but Southern Water workers were called back to the city centre on Sunday after the large hole opened up.

Mr Coppola added he had been hoping the bank holiday weekend would be busy for him so that he could recoup some of the lost profits from the past two weeks.

But with the latest problem, Kent Highways now says that “further investigational works” may be needed at the site.

“I don’t don’t know what to say,” continued Mr Coppola.

“They finally finished last week and then this morning there was a big hole in the street again – it seems we cannot have a moment stress-free.”

Simon Bullock is the general manager of The Black Griffin – a pub opposite Mezze on St Peter’s Steet.

He says weeks of previous work had disrupted deliveries and led to a fall in foot traffic.

“It has disrupted our deliveries because the vendors are not able to access the shop so they have to walk from the top of the high street. We have had a few things that we have not been able to get on time,” explained Mr Bullock, 37.

“It has also affected customers through the door.”

The publican says he was relieved when the repairs looked to be wrapped up and was dismayed at the latest problem.

“They woke me up between 7am and 7.30am with their shooting and screaming,” he explained, “and that’s not good when you only get three to four hours sleep.

“This morning, I see that a big hole has opened up in the road.”

A spokesperson for Kent Highways said: “The site has been made safe and awaiting further investigational works.”

Southern Water has been contacted for comment.