RESIDENTS of a Boscombe road face months of roadworks to repair a collapsed sewer.

Percy Road saw substantial subsidence following a storm last month, and Wessex Water engineers swiftly closed it off to traffic so they could investigate.

The firm says the repairs will take at least six months.

It is only four years since the firm dug an eight metre deep hole to repair the same pipe. At that time, the winter of 2012, the road was closed for several months.

A Wessex Water spokesman said: “Unfortunately this will not be a straightforward repair due to the number of essential services that are under the road.

“We are working with gas and electricity companies as well as Bournemouth Water so essential utilities can be diverted which will allow us to carry out work while maintaining services for local residents.

“We apologise for any inconvenience caused by the emergency repair work and thank local people for their patience."

Bournemouth council's road closure order will be in place until April 27 next year, although this deadline can be extended if required. A diversion is in place taking motorists via Michelgrove Road, Boscombe Cliff Road and Byron Road.

Wessex Water, which is responsible for sewerage in the town as Bournemouth Water handles tap water supplies, expects the repair work to be "challenging", the spokesman said, as two water mains, a gas main, electricity cables and telecommunications equipment will need to be diverted.

An investigation to determine how the subsidence occurred is being carried out at the same time as the repairs.

The works in 2012 saw engineers pump concrete into a void beneath the broken sewer pipe which was then due to be relaid.

The duration of that work was also protracted due to the need to redirect other utilities.

Resident at the time expressed their hope that the work would be "done and done properly".

The firm normally uses robots to carry out pipe repairs, but the problem in Percy Road is too extensive for this to be practical.