A road will remain shut for another week after ongoing delays to repair a sinkhole which appeared last month.

Gatland Lane in Maidstone was expected to reopen on January 19 but that date has been pushed back by another week.

The sinkhole opened up on Monday, December 18 after a water pipe burst and part of the carriageway and pavement collapsed at the junction where Gatland Lane meets Farleigh Lane.

South East Water confirmed it received 50 calls from customers experiencing low pressure or no water that day, but supplies had been restored to most customers by that afternoon.

Fences and barriers were put up around the hole which was up to a metre and a half deep, according to a witness.

Resident Mark Bradley said: “It’s a very busy junction – a car could have gone down there easily.”

Work was scheduled to end on Thursday, December 21 but the re-opening of the road has been pushed back three times, with repairs still ongoing more than a month later.

According to one witness, the hole was filled in towards the end of last week.

It’s not the only hole to appear in the road. Earlier this month, another sinkhole opened further along the pavement.

Barriers and fencing were placed around the new danger.

Barming has garnered a reputation for sinkholes opening up. Two years ago one appeared along the carriageway of the A26 Tonbridge Road and took four weeks to repair.

At the time KentOnline reported that over three years, there had been 10 sinkholes in Barming.

There were four incidents alone in 2020.

Steve Jupe, Regional Works Delivery Manager for South East Water, said: “We are sorry to everyone affected by the continued disruption following the burst main in Gatland Lane, Barming.

“This repair has been complicated by our need to work with the other utility companies which have pipes and cables within the road.

“We have now completed our repair work and are in the process of returning the road to its original condition and expect this to be completed by Friday, 26 January.

“We have been able to maintain water supply to customers while we have carried out the repair work as safely as quickly as possible, but we apologise for the local traffic disruption caused.”