Repairs to a year-old sinkhole have still not started despite promises from owners that they would start last week.

The sinkhole, which has plagued businesses and residents in Flackwell Heath for more than a year, first appeared in Straight Bit last August and steadily grew in size, causing business on the parade to decline, according to concerned shopkeepers.

The lack of action prompted villagers to stage a protest – creating a sign saying ‘The Land the Council Forgot’ by the shops along with inflatable dinosaurs, in a nod to the novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Land That Time Forgot.

Lamberts Chartered Surveyors, the management company for Aries House, which owns the row of shops, confirmed on September 20 that the work to repair it would start on October 1 – but angry shop owners contacted the Bucks Free Press this week to say no work has yet been started.

Lamberts Chartered Surveyors director William Heneker said today he has been advised that the work has been rescheduled to start tomorrow (Wednesday).

He said there was reportedly a delay in completing some of the final paperwork, which meant that the slot the firm carrying out the repairs had was missed.