THAMES Water has apologised for any disruption caused due to emergency work being carried out in Alton High Street, which threatened to disrupt last Sunday’s Yuletide Festival.

The work, in the lay-by outside the banks, began on December 2 when the High Street was, without warning, closed to traffic, causing problems in particular for buses and taxis.

Once the work area had been made secure, the road was reopened and Thames Water liaised with Alton Town Council who were then able to work around the affected area in the staging of the Yuletide Festival.

According to a Thames Water spokesman, the emergency was triggered by a collapsed surface water sewer which had left a void under the road, making it unsafe for traffic.

He explained: “We’re replacing around four metres of the pipe and we’ll then get the void filled in and the road surface replaced so it can take the weight of vehicles once again. We’re working hard to finish as soon as we can and hope to be done by the end of next week.”