An airline pilot nearly had a bumpy landing when part of a road collapsed in front of him.

Your Local Guardian:

Pic: Duncan Haynes

Charter pilot Duncan Haynes was cycling in Fullbrooks Avenue, Worcester Park, when a 6ft by 4ft chunk of tarmac crumbled in on itself.

He said: "I was just cycling down the road. It's a little bit that had been fixed and tarmacked before, and it just dropped. I was about 10 yards away from it when it went.

"There was a car behind me that fortunately stopped."

The hole is thought to have opened up after a sewer pipe collapsed.

A Thames Water spokeswoman said: "We’ve just been told this collapsed section of road may be related to our sewer network, so our teams will start investigations today to find out what’s happened."

The 41-year-old, visiting his mother in the quiet residential street, added: "If I hadn't spotted it I would have been in it.

"The hole is about 6ft long and about 3ft or 4ft wide. It's a good 4ft deep."