Angry residents have hit out after a sinkhole that appeared in a south Bucks village last summer has still not been repaired.

An area of collapsed pavement in Straight Bit, Flackwell Heath, appeared last August and steadily grew in size, leaving shopkeepers fearing they would lose business.

Lamberts Chartered Surveyors, the management company for Aries House, which is believed to own the row of shops in the parade, told the Bucks Free Press earlier this month that the ground investigation works have finished and the leaks causing the sinkhole have been repaired, and the company is waiting for insurers to authorise the final reinstatement work.

But residents have blasted the length of time it has taken to carry out the repairs, with one calling it “ridiculous and laughable”.

The resident, who did not want to be named, said: “It’s the first thing you see when you live here. It’s horrendous. If it was just a small pit like it was initially it wouldn’t be so bad, but it’s now covering three-quarters of the footpath in front of Aries House.

“It’s just not acceptable.”

“We understand it’s a complicated process but I think more could be done to put pressure on them to do the work quicker.”

Lamberts Chartered Surveyors, the management company for Aries House, said the work had taken as long as it has due to the “complexities and multiple parties” involved in resolving the issue, as well as the “significant costs” involved, which the firm said extended to tens of thousands of pounds.