Council launches claim against water company and landowners to repair sinkhole

Stoke-on-Trent City Council has issued legal proceedings against a water firm and a landowner over a sinkhole that has afflicted residents on a residential street since 2019.

The city council says it issued proceedings at the High Court against Severn Trent Water Limited and Redrow Homes Limited at the High Court to ensure the highway is repaired.

In a statement, the council said it had received extensive expert legal and engineering advice in respect of the defect on a highway at the junction between Boatman Drive and Waterlily Close in Etruria.

Sinkholes have been appearing on the road as early as 2019, with one report from BBC Radio Stoke in September 2019 suggesting the subsidence had become a "tourist hotspot".

Stoke-on-Trent City Council spokesperson said: "We know the impacts which the highways issues at Boatman Drive are having on the lives of local residents and we are committed to ensuring that the highway is repaired and brought back into proper use.

"Now our investigations have provided more certainty around the underlying cause of the damage to the highway, the matter is now subject to legal proceedings and as such, it would not be appropriate to comment any further on this matter at this stage."

A Severn Trent spokesperson described the claim as "entirely speculative", adding that the firm would "robustly defend" it.

Redrow Homes has been approached for comment.

Adam Carey