Sections of a busy road started collapsing just weeks after county council contractors finished working there.

Barton Way in Croxley Green was closed for three weeks between Monday, May 18 and Tuesday, June 9 as Ringway improved the drains under the road surface to prevent future flooding.

But just weeks after the work was finished, sections of the road started collapsing and one neighbour said a hole appeared within two days of the work being completed.

Hertfordshire Constabulary has confirmed they were forced to close the road on Saturday night, after receiving calls saying “the road was sinking”.

When officers arrived, they discovered one hole that was three-feet deep.

Spokesman for the police Hannah Georgiou said: “We closed the area because of the danger to drivers and we notified the bus company that has a route through that area.”

Neighbours have been left frustrated by the latest problem in the road.

Del Johnson, 43, of Barton Way, said: “It has been a nightmare. I have lived here twelve years and the road has not been resurfaced once. All they keep doing is filling in pot holes.

“When they did the road three weeks ago, it was chaos, absolute chaos.

“Within two days, we had sinkholes appearing and when they [workmen] came round to look at it, all they did was put asphalt on top it."

Mr Johnson also pointed towards another two and a half feet deep hole, which appeared a week after the road had been closed for three weeks.

Paul Wallington, of Barton Way, said: “There are quite a few old aged pensioners around here and the bus that usually takes them to Rickmansworth can’t get down here because the road is closed.

“I know one lady who had to walk a quarter of a mile from where the bus stopped to her house and if she had any shopping, she would not have been able to do it.

“It used to flood around here and the water would go into people’s homes.

“They came down three of four weeks ago and they dug down and put in some new drains. It seems they have not reinstated it properly".

Mark Butler, also of Barton Way, called for a review into the traffic that comes down the busy road, which includes the 320 bus service.

He said: “Given that parts of the road have collapsed since the completion of the drainage works, it does throw into doubt whether the road can withstand the volume of traffic and vehicle types it has.

“This is probably a good time for the council to review the profile of traffic coming through here and put in place a number of measures to reduce the noise, get on top of the speeding and look at re-routing of the buses.”

The road is expected to be closed until Friday. 

Ringway's seven year contract still has four years to run but it is said to be worth around £40m each year.

In a statement, Ringway said: “We have investigated reports of holes appearing on Barton Way, Croxley Green. These appear to have been caused by recent drainage works.

“We have to close the road until the end of the week for safety reasons while repairs are made and we apologise for any inconvenience caused.

“We would like to reassure residents that the repairs are being carried out entirely at Ringway’s own expense with no cost to Hertfordshire residents or the county council.”