RESIDENTS have been warned today that a village’s high street will be closed for longer than expected – after a second water main burst in exactly the same place.

Contractors had only just finished repairing the pipe work in High Road, Trimley St Martin, when the same main ruptured again, just a few yards further on.

The street was already facing three days of closures because excavations revealed large holes – possibly caused by the leakage from the main – beneath the road surface.

Now the work is expected to take up to five days to put right.

Anglian Water spokesman Antony Innes said: “We finished repairs to the burst pipe on Wednesday at about 10.30pm and as we were recharging it, putting the water back into the system, the build up in pressure caused another burst a bit further along.

“Because the engineers were there at the time, they saw it happen and were able to shut it off immediately.”

No customers were affected by the second incident.

Mr Innes said the area below ground would need to be encased in concrete, which would mean extra work, and in the current weather conditions take a day or so to set, adding two days to the current road closure.

“We are aiming to get the road repaired as quickly as we can,” he added.

Although only around 100 yards of High Road is affected – between the roundabout at Howlett Way and the St Martins Green junction – motorists wanting to reach that area of the village face travelling around seven miles via diversions until the road reopens.

Rod Rowe, owner of The Sausage Shop, High Road, said he had noticed a big drop in customers since the problems started. AW staff have visited him to give advice on making compensation claims.