St Peter’s Street on Canterbury High Street forced to close after huge hole opens up

A large section of a major high street has been closed throughout the day after a large hole opened up.

St Peter’s Street, part of Canterbury High Street, has been blocked since 9am this morning as Kent Highways deal with a “collapse in the carriageway”.

Kent County highways say the section of Canterbury high street must remain closed for further investigatory works

It comes after 16 days of work by Southern Water on St Peters Street which had recently been completed. But crews returned this morning after the hole appeared.

Shopkeepers were woken up to the “shouting and screaming” of utility workers as they discovered a large hole had opened up in the area of the road they had been working on.

The original repairs had been required after the basement of Mezze Bar & Grill flooded last month.

Manager Antonino Coppola told KentOnline the resulting road works has had serious repercussions for his business.

Mezze manager Antontio Coppola says the roadworks on St Peter's Street, Canterbury have cause a 70% drop in business — Mezze manager Antontio Coppola says the roadworks on St Peter’s Street, Canterbury have cause a 70% drop in business

Mezze manager Antontio Coppola was disappointed to find a large hole had appeared in St Peter's Street, Canterbury, this morning — Mezze manager Antontio Coppola was disappointed to find a large hole had appeared in St Peter’s Street, Canterbury, this morning

He said: “Usually we have tables outside and people sitting out there eating, but now people don’t even know if we are open or not.

“We are losing tables and customers – it’s costing us 70% of our business.”

The works were completed on May 3, but Southern Water workers were called back to the city centre on Sunday after the large hole opened up.

Mr Coppola added he had been hoping the bank holiday weekend would be busy for him so that he could re-coup some of the lost profits from the past two weeks.

But with the latest problem, Kent Highways now says that “further investigational works” may be needed at the site.

“I don’t don’t know what to say,” continued Mr Coppola.

The Black Giffin publican Simon Bullock says he was woken up by Southern Water staff as they resumed work on St Peter's Street in Canterbury this morning — The Black Giffin publican Simon Bullock says he was woken up by Southern Water staff as they resumed work on St Peter’s Street in Canterbury this morning

“They finally finished last week and then this morning there was a big hole in the street again – it seems we cannot have a moment stress-free.”

Simon Bullock is the general manager of The Black Griffon – a pub opposite Mezze on St Peters Steet.

He says weeks of previous work had disrupted deliveries and led to a fall in foot traffic.

“It has disrupted our deliveries because the vendors are not able to access the shop so they have to walk from the top of the high street. We have had a few things that we have not been able to get on time,” explained Mr Bullock, 37.

“It has also affected customers through the door.”

The publican says he was relieved when the repairs looked to be wrapped up and was dismayed at the latest problem.

The hole appeared in the middle of St Peter's Street in Canterbury city centre on Sunday morning — The hole appeared in the middle of St Peter’s Street in Canterbury city centre on Sunday morning

“They woke me up between 7 and 7.30am with their shooting and screaming,” he explained, “and that’s not good when you only get three to four hours sleep.

“This morning, I see that a big hole has opened up in the road.”

A spokesperson for Kent Highways said: “The site has been made safe and awaiting further investigational works.”

Southern Water have been contacted for comment.