Just two weeks after United Utilities were supposed to have repaired a damaged sewer under Fox Lane, the creaking underground pipes have collapsed again.

Ever since the historic road, one of Leyland's oldest, was resurfaced at the start of 2007, the sewers have been beset with problems.

First of all the £130,000 work overran because of a void underneath the surface, which meant a big hole in the road suddenly appeared in March 2007 and the road had to be dug up again.

Then, weeks later, a broken sewer flooded one Fox Lane resident's cellar with 18 inches of sewage which caused £8,000.

In June 2007, the diggers returned when two more properties suffered problems with broken sewers.

Now, after the latest sewer collapse, the utilities company is planning on investigating the entire network below Fox Lane - which could have huge implications on the town's traffic.

A spokesman for United Utilities said: "The sewer has collapsed and the problem we are having is that this particular sewer is built on what is known as 'running sand', which means the foundations underneath the road are like digging into a beach.

"If there is the slightest disturbance to the foundations it will cause the hole to fall in on itself. The job has run into complications and we have also got the health and safety of our engineers to consider.

"In terms of actual work, we do apologise to our customers for the inconvenience, which has taken longer than expected. We would ask them for patience.

"The only time we will resurface the road is when we are absolutely 100 per cent sure there will be no further disruption. The engineers believe that now they know what the problem is they have a handle on it."

The spokesman said the current work could run on for another two weeks, and added: "Due to the problems experienced with this particular sewer, we have drawn up proposals to investigate the rest of the sewers under Fox Lane. This is a difficult situation and we ask people to bear with us."

But one resident was less than sympathetic, saying: "We get woke up by the intermittent drone of traffic at the temporary lights and I've no idea how long this will go on for."