00:00So obviously I pulled up to work on Tuesday morning and saw that it was closed.
00:07There was no signs prior to pulling up to work so obviously I thought, well here we go again.
00:13They must have known this was going to happen so if they could have given us a heads up a week or two before, I could have arranged the diary better.
00:21A sinkhole, then a leak and now the road is closed again.
00:24For Kent County Council call a sunken road investigation, but with Milton Road shut off, it's caused havoc for local businesses like Kay's Sandwich Bar.
00:33So obviously first time, couldn't be helped, sinkhole appeared.
00:37Second time, could have been avoided if they had fixed it correctly in the first place.
00:43Third time now, because they're doing investigations, very, very frustrating because this is going to lead into a fourth and us businesses are suffering.
00:53And obviously with stock, I still have to order the same amount of stock I normally would, just in case.
00:59Obviously I have to have it in stock, but I'm also wasting a lot of it this week because obviously people are not coming.
01:06Plenty of businesses here on Milton Road were saying they just weren't warned, whether that's by the water companies or by Kent County Council.
01:13They say had they been warned, maybe they could have ordered in less stock or had less staff on, all to protect their profits, which they say have been severely impacted by the closure.
01:21Our delivery drivers are getting held up and we're not getting our parts delivered on time, which is delaying our customers' orders.
01:27We're not getting the footfall come down because people can't park up this end of town.
01:32And people are not wanting to come into town as much because the traffic is just diabolical.
01:37So it's impacting us from every which way.
01:40And we're given no notice, no heads up.
01:42I don't know when they're expected to leave or anything like that.
01:45And it's just causing absolute nightmares.
01:47He went on to say that since the road closed, footfall has gone down by 35%.
01:53Southern Water released a statement saying,
01:56Our teams have completed reinstatement work due to a sunken road.
01:59After investigation, our engineering teams also uncovered a leak.
02:03Both jobs were completed on Wednesday this week, 25th of June, 2025.
02:07The last part of the reinstatement will be completed on Monday next week, 30th of June, to cure the concrete.
02:13We're sorry for the inconvenience caused and disruption to residents and commuters.
02:17Locals will hope this is the last they see of the works on Milton Road
02:21and that if they do return, businesses will be given enough warning to protect their profits.
