A KNUTSFORD trader has called on council chiefs to sort out the saga of a sink hole that he believes continues to pose danger to both motorists and pedestrians.

It's a view shared by a town taxi driver who is also calling for something to be done about the recurring hole, which appeared in the middle of the road in Tatton Street last Thursday.

The saga of the Tatton Street sinkhole dates back to at least 2005, when the Guardian reported that a 3ft deep hole had opened up in the same spot where a similar sized cavity opened up last Thursday.

Police cordoned off part of the street awaiting the arrival of council engineers and traffic was disrupted.

Jonathan Farber, who runs a nearby photographic business said: "The latest hole is quite remarkable in that in it seems like it has once again made its annual appearance about the same time of the year for what seems like the last four or five years.

"And each year East Cheshire Council fills it in without any serious investigation of what is going on under the street itself."

Mr Farber, who took photographs of the latest incident, said council workmen had filled in the latest sink hole by Saturday morning.

"A car could easily have ended in the hole and it definitely poses a potential risk to both motorists and to pedestrians.

"Locally, there are a lot of people who are concerned about this and it's time the local authority did a proper job by sorting out what is causing it to collapse so often."

The Guardian reported in July, 2005, that when the same hole opened up on that occasion, passersby surrounded it in an effort to prevent motorists driving into it, and ahead of the arrival of council engineers.

Taxi driver Peter Singleton added: "The road where the hole opens up has been bad for a number of years. Each time it occurs, the council comes back and patches it up rather than doing a proper job on it."

A Cheshire East Council spokesman said: “Cheshire East Council does not anticipate any further problems at this location on Tatton Street. The cause of this problem was a cracked drain which was allowing loose material from the road to drop into it, therefore causing the road to subside.

“When the problem was reported on Thursday, our highways team temporarily filled in the hole and contained it with cones and barriers to allow traffic to continue flowing.

“We are aware of similar issues occurring here in the past so we then undertook an assessment before scheduling for larger-scale repairs to take place on Saturday morning.”