IMAGES shared online show a large sinkhole that has emerged on a busy stretch of motorway.
The large crater appeared on the A35 outside Troytown in Dorset and the road has been closed since it was spotted yesterday.
Images taken by Highways England workers show the gaping pit, approximately the width of a car, that has caused the tarmac and asphalt to sink away.
The layers of material below the surface of the road can be seen in the shocking pictures.
A relatively fresh layer of tarmac appears on top of the crevice which has caused speculation on social media as to whether the last repair was botched.
Highways England posted the picture onto their Twitter page yesterday and captioned their post: “A35 Westbound is being closed due to an emergency repair.
“Diversions are in place.
“We expect the road to be closed overnight. Follow this feed for updates.”
Since then, their most recent update posted this morning said: “The A35 westbound remains closed due to a sinkhole in the carriageway.
“Engineers will be on site today for their investigations and to make plans for the repairs.
“The road will be closed throughout the day and a local diversion is in place.
@nareteVymrA posted: “Looks like they did a cr** job before.”
@FearlessOAP commented: “That looks like a repair that was botched previously.”
@telfordpunx said: “The roads in this country are a disgrace.”
@ADAM1274 also tweeted: “This has been coming for weeks, was repaired once a couple of weeks back and it’s been gradually getting worse over the last ten days.
“Engineers were aware of it because they put an ‘uneven road’ sign near it and then left it for a further week until it collapsed completely.”
A spokesman for Highways England today said: “Following reports of a surface defect on the 10th May, crews undertook two fixes of the hole on both the 10th and 11th May.
“Following further subsidence, both fixes were unsuccessful and it has been necessary to close the road to undertake further assessments before a permanent repair can take place.
“A geotechnical team is assessing the issue today.”
Stephen Potts, Service Manager for Highways England, said: “We are currently carrying out geo-technical investigations into the cause of the surface defect on the westbound carriageway section of the Tolpuddle by-pass.
“The road will remain closed until further notice. We apologise for the inconvenience and advise motorists to plan ahead and allow a little extra time for their journeys.”
