A HUGE hole sealing off 100 Headington homes from their main access to Oxford may not be fixed for a week, water bosses have said.

Residents in Quarry Road and Old Road were woken at 6:50am today after a water leak threatened to flood their homes.

Gallons gushed down the streets. At 1pm, a 10ft-wide hole in Old Road had blocked off access to homes east of the Quarry Road junction, leaving their only route via the bumpy single-lane track over Shotover Hill.

Thames Water spokesman Simon Evans said: “While the pipe will be fixed today, rebuilding the road over the top of it could take up to a week.

"We are really sorry to everyone affected by this incident.”

He added: "Our loss adjusters are at the scene today getting the insurance process under way for anyone who has had property damaged."

Oxford East MP Andrew Smith said: “Clearly it is very worrying for the residents, both those who have lost water supply and those cut off from road access to Oxford.

“I wonder what would happen her if an ambulance needed to get through.”