FELIXSTOWE'S main shopping street re-opened to traffic today - two weeks earlier than anticipated.

FELIXSTOWE'S main shopping street re-opened to traffic today - two weeks earlier than anticipated.

Part of busy Hamilton Road was closed a week ago for emergency repairs to a collapsed sewer with Anglian Water warning it could be shut two to three weeks.

The road was closed between the junction of St Andrews Road and Gainsborough Road with fencing across the street, and also from the Palace cinema and bingo hall in the other direction.

Four bus stops were affected and notices put up to direct passengers to temporary stops.

But contractors Claret Civil Engineering worked around the clock to find the problem and put in place new piping, refill, repair and resurface the road so it could be open again.

Traders, who said the works were a complete surprise and had been unaware of any underground problems, were today pleased to have the road back to normal with the run-up to Christmas under way.

It is the third Felixstowe street in the past few months to be affected by a sewer collapse.

Bent Hill was closed for nearly a month in late summer, and Gainsborough Road for two weeks last month after an Edwardian sewer pipe six feet below the street leaked.

Did the road closure affect you? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail EveningStarLetters@eveningstar.co.uk