Investigations are continuing today after a sinkhole large enough to swallow a small car was discovered.

Eastern Daily Press: Plumstead Road, Norwich is closed after a large sink hole was discovered by contractors under the road surface.PHOTO BY SIMON FINLAYPlumstead Road, Norwich is closed after a large sink hole was discovered by contractors under the road surface.PHOTO BY SIMON FINLAY (Image: ARCHANT NORFOLK)

The six-metre-deep cavern was found underneath Plumstead Road, near Kett's Hill, last night by telecoms engineers.

It resulted in an overnight road closure by police due to the risk it posed to passing motorists and remains closed today.

Bus services will be diverted.

It is the latest in a series of sinkholes and collapses around the city over the years - with the most famous being the 'bus in a hole' in Earlham Road in 1988.

Telecoms contract manager Ben Foot, who was working at the scene, said his team first discovered the hole on Tuesday.

'We have been monitoring it for the past couple of days and it was about half the size of what it is now.

'If we left it any longer it would have just got bigger and bigger and it is only a matter of time before the whole thing goes [collapses].'

The cavern, which is around four metres wide, can be seen through a small hole made by the engineers.

Around a foot of road surfacing and soil is supporting the road in one section above sinkhole.

Mr Foot added: 'You can see there is a big crack down the footpath and that is all trying to slip down this hole. You could fit a Ford Fiesta in their now.'

The engineers, who had been working on upgrading the local communications network , notified police at around 8.45pm.

A fire crew was also called to the scene and cordon between Wellesley Avenue North and Bellsize Road was put in place.

An officer at the scene said it was likely to be closed throughout the night while highways engineers assess the damage.

Paul Cayley, health and safety executive for a communications company, said: 'We have a duty of care and we would rather have a road closure for a couple of days than a child falling down there and disappearing.'

Passerby Trish Cragg, 74, who lives on Honey Close, said: 'It is always a bit of a worry If a road could collapse. It is not the sort of thing you would expect.'