Thorpe Road closed to traffic as town's roadworks nightmares continue

Thorpe Road in Melton has become the latest road to fall victim to an emergency road closure overnight due to issues underground.

Despite confirming yesterday (Wednesday) that the road won't be closed, an issue that was discovered overnight means there was no other choice but to close the road.

Until today Thorpe Road has been the main diversion for drivers trying to use Saxby Road which is also closed due to a previous burst water main which has been fixed and is awaiting a road surface reinstatement.

Severn Trent Water did an emergency letter drop to residents on Thorpe Road overnight as it was clear due to an issue with a waste pipe that a road closure was required.

To ensure the safety of the teams and other road users, the current road closure will remain in place until the reinstatement has been completed.

The road closure on Thorpe Road in Melton on Thursday morning. Photo: NEMM

A Severn Trent spokesperson said: “We’d like to apologise to residents who have been affected by the recent roadworks in Melton Mowbray.

“On Tuesday we attended a burst on a water pipe on Thorpe Road and we're pleased to say that the repair was completed that morning. While working to get the road surface back to normal, a separate issue was identified on the waste network which has required an emergency road closure on Thorpe Road in order for our teams to complete the repair. Again we’re really sorry to customers living and working in the area who have been disrupted by these works, our expert team of engineers are working to make the repair and get everything back to normal as quickly and as safely as possible.”

Thorpe Road is closed from Acres Rise to Norman Way junction while repairs are carried out. It's not yet known how long the closure will be in place.

On Thursday morning drivers were being forced to cut through Algernon Road and Kings Road resulting in chaos at rush hour.

Severn Trent Water are speaking to the council about the suggested diversion this morning.

These issues come in the same week that Leicestershire County Council have confirmed they are still committed to funding the long awaiting Melton Mowbray Distributor Road despite estimated costs doubling to £127 million.