MOTORISTS are being warned of a southbound closure of the A61 in Derby due to emergency work to prevent a water leak.
Severn Trent says it has had to carry out work to repair a large water pipe on Alfreton Road in Derby today, near to the Little Eaton Roundabout.
A spokeswoman for the company said: "This is because there was a high chance of the pipe bursting, which would have caused a flood and been dangerous to motorists. We've acted now to make sure this doesn't happen.
"We've had to close the one lane of the road to make sure this work is carried out safely so we'd like to say sorry for any inconvenience caused to our customers as we know this is a busy road, and likely to have an impact on traffic.
"We're working closely with the local highways authority to minimise any disruption and will be working round the clock until the problem is fixed."
The Highways Agency has said that work is likely to last up to seven days and traffic will be diverted to the A38 southbound and then to Kingsway where motorists can join the diversion which is already in place for overnight work at Little Eaton.
The A61 will remain open northbound.
Road users are advised to plan their journeys, leaving extra time if necessary.
