Major Staffordshire road 'likely to be closed' until Saturday after water main bursts

The A38 southbound has shut off to traffic between the A513 for Alrewas and Hilliards Cross near Lichfield while South Staffs Water works to fix the issue.

National Highways said the road is "likely to remain closed" until Saturday morning.

At about 6.30pm on Thursday, it announced there were 25 minutes of delays and around 2.5 miles of traffic on approach to the road closure.

Motorists were first warned to expect delays on the road between the A513 and A5127 for Lichfield at around 9.30am.

National Highways initially said the issue had been caused by an "infrastructure defect" and warned drivers to allow extra time to travel.

In a later update, it said there was a burst water main on the road and motorists were travelling at a "reduced capacity".

South Staffs Water confirmed it was working to repair the burst main, which has happened near to the exit for Fradley.

Adam Taylor, who is part of the team at the water supply company which is dealing with the issue, described it as a "bad leak".

In a video released by South Staffs Water, Mr Taylor said the road has "bubbled up" due to the burst main but added he doesn't believe any properties have been affected.

A spokesman for the company said: "Now that we have the road closure in place, our teams are working on water mains isolation prior to carrying out repair."