CREDITON Town Councillor Joyce Harris was the first person to spot a problem in Market Street, Crediton last week, when a "dent" began to appear in the road surface.

Mrs Harris duly reported the problem to Devon County Council and contractors attended on Friday, June 7, to re-surface the area, measuring about 5ft by 4ft.

On Monday, an approximately eight inch diameter hole had appeared in the re-surfaced area and looking down it, a much wider and very deep chasm could be seen.

Devon Highways' contractors attended to look at the problem and the road was eventually closed.

A Devon County Council spokesman, said: "Market Street has been closed for health and safety reasons.

"The damage to the road is believed to have been caused by a collapsed sewer and it has been reported to South West Water, who are investigating."

May Gurney, contractors, were on the scene on Wednesday and used a robot camera to gauge the extent of the problem.

Access was gained via a manhole cover in the High Street, which needed traffic to be controlled by stop/go boards while the robot went down through the sewer to investigate the problem.

The area surrounding the spot where the hole appeared was also fenced with more semi-permanent fencing.

Martin Ashley, assistant town clerk, said there was a similar problem with a collapsed brick, Victorian conduit in Market Street not so long ago and said he believed it could be a similar problem occurring now at the top of Market Street.

Alan Quick