Nightmare pothole which caused flooding near Norwich is finally fixed

Shelley Newton's note on her board. Photo: Shelley Newton (Image: Shelley Newton)

The hole opened up in West End in Costessey in December - right outside a florist shop.

Shelley Newton, owner of the Flower House, said: 'I noticed a massive pothole outside our shop around Christmas time last year and myself and others have reported it to Norfolk County Council several times over the past few months.'

Since making its unwelcome appearance, the pothole has been a never ending cause of concern, resulting in worse problems.

Customers to Mrs Newton's shop were unable to park outside which was then having a knock-on affect on her business.

The pot hole on West End. Photo: Shelley Newton (Image: Shelley Newton)

Over time, the pothole increased in size and caused the main drain in the street to fall in, causing flooding on the street and excess water in connecting drains.

The flooding left her neighbour with no choice but to move out and stay in a hotel for two weeks and he had to place his dogs temporarily in kennels. Mrs Newton added: 'When it rained, which it did on my busiest weekend of the year, Mother's Day, we couldn't put our display out because the shop front was flooded.

'When a car went by it was like a tidal wave, soaking all my stock and customers and locals. We had wet feet all day.

'It was a little disappointing for business this year, this did not help. It was difficult for customers to park on the shop forecourt and we had lots of residents complaining.

'It caused disruption as this is the narrowest part of that road. On Mother's Day, one of the shop's neighbours came round with a wet vacuum to help suck up all the water so we could put out a little display at least.'

The council workforce arrived on Saturday, April 21 to sort out the pothole and the drain, although residents and affected shop owners say they won't be certain it is fixed until they have a substantial amount of rainfall again - to test it.