A LENGTHY wait for a closed road in Torfaen to re-open due to sinkhole has been slammed by a frustrated resident.

Vicarage Lane has been closed since September 27, when the sinkhole appeared and caused a property boundary wall to disintegrate, fall into it, and block access.

A full road closure has been in place since.

Last week, Torfaen council agreed to employ a specialist contractor, DSI Drilltek Ltd, to carry out “urgent” ground stabilisation works, totalling almost £36,000.

But Darren Nash, a resident of Vicarage Lane, said the prolonged wait has caused he and other residents numerous issues.

“I haven’t had real access to the property in months. It’s really frustrating,” he said.

“We are having to park our cars out on the road, as the sinkhole is blocking access to our homes.

“Myself and my neighbour have to effectively walk through a building site.

“It’s not safe.

“There is also an 83-year-old woman who lives on the road, she’s just had a fall at home not long ago. It’s not safe for her to have to walk past this.

“And we are having a problem with refuse collection. Normally, the truck would come down our road to collect the bins, but now it can’t.

“Now we have to take all our bins to the end of road, or just take them to the tip ourselves.”

Mr Nash’s wall and driveway fell into the sinkhole, he said, while his neighbours wall needed to be torn down by the council to be able to fix the issue.

A spokesman for Torfaen confirmed work had recently taken place.

He added: “Ground stabilisation works have been completed.

“This involved injecting a cement grout into the ground.”