Bromley Council has said the hole in the road on Whippendell Way is not its responsibility after sending its contractors to the site.

A spokesman told News Shopper: "Our contractors have excavated and discovered a broken section of pipe, which we suspected is owned by Thames Water.

"Thames Water have this morning confirmed that they are now responsible for this site and are in the process of commencing repair work at this location, repairing both their pipework and the road surface."

Thames Water confirmed that repair work is now underway. The road remains closed in both directions.

A spokesman said: "We’re sorry for the disruption a ground collapse is causing in BR5. A sewer has collapsed, we’re now investigating what caused it and are currently repairing the pipe.

“Due to the size of the collapse we’ve also started restoring the road surface but it is a complicated job and we’re working alongside the London Borough of Bromley Council during the work, which we believe will be finished next week.”

The collapsed sewer is eight inches in diameter.