A BUSY town centre road in Royton could be closed for up to two weeks this month as United Utilities replaces a collapsed sewer.

The work will be carried out on Rochdale Road (A671) at the junction with Middleton Road, near the Co-operative Food store.

United Utilities is due to start the work on February 10 and engineers say it should take between one and two weeks to replace the section of collapsed pipe from the junction up to Royton Town Hall.

Ian Ramstead, Network Engineer, said: “As a temporary measure, to prevent flooding, we have been using road tankers to remove the wastewater from this part of sewer network but this is quite disruptive, especially for people using Park Street car park.

“We’ve done a lot of investigation, some of it during night-time hours, to see if there is any way we can repair this sewer without digging up the road, but this is the only option.

“It’s important that we repair the collapse before the problem gets worse because the last thing anyone wants is for a sinkhole to develop in the carriageway.

“We’ve been liaising with Oldham Council and the plan is to carry out the work during the half term school holiday to try to keep the disruption to a minimum.”

The road closure and a diversion route, via High Barn Street, Shaw Road, Rochdale Road, Thornham Road and Fir Lane will be clearly signposted and all businesses will be open for trade as usual.