More than 20 cars damaged during Long Stratton rush hour

More than 20 cars were damaged last night driving through Long Stratton after a manhole cover became dislodged.

At least six commuters along the Ipswich road, heading towards Norwich, were left with flat tyres after hitting the cover which had raised six inches.

The incidents caused delays of up to 15 minutes on the road as cars pulled onto the embankment, with many remaining in the road.

A police spokesman said: 'The police were called at around 5.08pm to Long Stratton to reports of a number of cars being damaged.

'On further inspection it appears a manhole cover has raised six inches and been struck by a number of vehicles.

'We had reports of six cars with flat tyres but it is understood that there was a trail of more than 20 cars which had been damaged in some way.'

A Norfolk County Council spokesman said: 'Norfolk County Council's highways team received a report at 5.10pm last night [5 December] from a member of the public that a manhole cover on the A140 near Long Stratton had flipped up and was causing damage to cars.

'Our crews then attended to carry out temporary repairs to make the cover safe and reported the incident to BT who own the manhole cover.'