Cars were damaged after a hole opened up on the A2 this morning.

The void in London Road, Newington, near the junction of Playstool Road, was caused by a burst water main,which is being fixed by engineers from Southern Water.

Around 30 properties had their supplies affected.

One motorist said he damaged his nearside tyre as he drove over it at around 7am this morning.

He added: "There were five or six cars pulled over in the space of 100 yards with burst tyres.

"It was a bit chaotic. I think a drain cover had come off, as it was flooded along the side of the road, just past Newington on the way towards Rainham."

A Southern Water spokesman said: "Our team is at work on London Road, Newington, fixing a burst on a 4" water main.

"We'd like to say sorry to householders in around 30 properties in the area who saw their water supplies affected by this.

"The burst has caused some subsidence in the road and we will be fixing this when our repair to the burst pipe is complete."