A CRACK opened suddenly in the A38 in Kempsey as fountains of water poured out of a suspected burst water main.

Officers from West Mercia Police were on the scene at the A38 near the junction with Plovers Rise tonight following the leak, reported at 4pm.

A spokesperson for Worcestershire County Council confirmed the A38 remained open despite the leak.

Cars had to use the junction of Plovers Rise (near the Linden Homes development) to negotiate a coned off area in the centre of the A38 Main Road as an officer directed traffic though the flooded area where the two fountains of water had sprouted.

Malvern Hills district councillor David Harrison sent in photographs and a video of the leak which he said involved two fountains of water spouting from the crack and the subsidence of part of the main road.

Cllr Harrison said: "The road has sunk with one carriageway subsiding by between four and six inches (northbound).

"The southbound carriageway appears to have been raised by the water underneath it. Down the centre of the road we have a cone to make sure people don't fall off the edge of it.

"There's a huge crack in the road. It's quite a dramatic sight.

"There are two fountains of water spouting up. The water is spouting up about nine inches but it was over 2ft at one point.

"The traffic is going through at about five or six miles an hour. You can see it's coming out of a hydrant. Traffic looks like it's beginning to build up. It's getting it repaired that's going to be the problem on a Friday night."

A spokesman for West Mercia Police said: "We were called at 4pm today (Friday) to reports of a water leak on Plovers Rise, Kempsey.
 "Highways are in attendance. It appears a road closure is in place on the A38 through Kempsey."
Severn Trent and Worcestershire County Council had yet to respond by the time the Worcester News went to press.