The reopening of a major Norwich road will not take place for yet another month, it has been announced.

Sweet Briar Road, which forms part of the city’s outer ring road, has been closed since February 17, after a burst water main flooded and damaged an embankment.

Residents and businesses had previously been told by Anglian Water that the road would reopen at the end of April.

In a new statement on Tuesday (19 April), an Anglian Water spokeswoman said the road was now expected to remain closed until the end of May, due to the “incredibly complex” nature of repairs needed.

Even before the news broke of the road’s closure for a further month, businesses had expressed their frustration over how long the works had taken.

“It’s been a pain,” said Jason Chadwick, manager of the Jollyes pet food and accessories store in Hellesdon.

“I’m having to come in through Waterworks Road instead.

“Getting here in the morning isn’t a problem - it’s getting home that’s a nightmare.”

He said that there had been “no communication” from Anglian Water and that delivery drivers had been confused by the works.

One driver, who had come down from Wigan, was so thrown by the diversion that they simply turned around and dropped off their stock at Jollye’s Dereham store, only coming to Norwich the following day.

“Fingers crossed that it’s fixed soon,” said Mr Chadwick.

The effect of the closure has spread to roads across the neighbourhood, including Hellesdon Hall Road, home to the Hellesdon Barns garden centre.

Darryl Eastell, the owner of Plantmania - based within Hellesdon Barns - said: “It’s absolutely bonkers. It’s a major artery.”

He added: “There was one Italian truck that said he’d be there at 3pm in the afternoon, so we waited, because obviously we have to offload it, and it’s a big load. That came the following morning.”

“The truck driver gave up. He was five minutes away.

“I’ve had to escort some trucks out of Norwich, just to get them on to the NDR - so it’s been complicated.

“Even today, I had to do a delivery five minutes away which took 25 minutes - that’s insane."

Mr Eastell said he hadn’t had a single communication from the authorities to inform him of the works’ progress.

He added that there was a need for more “joined up thinking” between different authorities working on road repairs across the city, to ensure no single area suffers too much from delays.

“It’s certainly had a negative effect on business, in as much as your casual customers who come in and just want to buy £10 worth of plants, are wandering around different garden centres.

“Passing trade is what I think we’ve lost. I wouldn’t want to sit in traffic for 20 minutes to travel 100 yards to possibly buy a £10 plant, so why would I expect them to?

“It’s an insane situation.”

Steve Jordan, who tends a nearby allotment, was more relaxed about the road’s closure.

“It’s been nice and quiet”, he said, adding that the plots hadn’t been so peaceful “since the lockdown”.

Mr Jordan, who is on his allotment most days of the week, acknowledged that the closure was still inconvenient for lots of people, especially when trying to get petrol at Asda from the southern side of the closure.

An Anglian Water spokeswoman said: “This is an incredibly complex repair which has required stringent health and safety measures to be put in place due to the embankment needing to be removed and reinstated.

“The embankment element has needed input from a variety of stakeholders to ensure that the design meets all requirements.

“We have removed the embankment, and using specialist teams are now undertaking the reinstatement.

“Once this has been completed we can begin the work on the damaged water pipe which sits within the embankment.

“Due to the complex nature of this repair we expect this work to be completed by the end of May.

“We would like to thank everyone for the patience while this emergency work is taking place, and apologise for the disruption this is causing to road users.”