A busy town centre was brought to a standstill this afternoon after a mysterious 15-foot sinkhole opened up in the road without warning - almost swallowing a number of cars in the process . Motorists had to swerve out of the way of the giant hole after it appeared on the residential Earl Street in Northampton at around 2pm , just hours after part of a London pavement collapsed , swallowing a pedestrian . Shocking pictures show the gaping chasm - which was around eight foot ( 2.4 metres ) wide - with a section of surrounding road also looking on the verge of collapse . Scroll down for video . Enormous : The hole opened up on Earl Street , Northampton , at about 2pm on Thursday . Blocked : Police quickly sealed off the road to avoid anyone falling into the hole , which is about eight foot wide . Police quickly closed off Earl Street , causing traffic chaos and leaving locals without water following damage to a water main . A barmaid from the Charles Bradlaugh pub , opposite the hole , who did not wish to be named , said : 'We saw it from inside the pub . 'It was weird . It just collapsed but it gave way really slowly . It was gradual . ' I am not at all sure why it happened . It was really strange . ' Eyewitness Matthew Green , 24 , was in the pub when he heard a loud bang . He said : ' I was just having a drink with my mate when there was this loud crashing noise . ' I thought there had been an accident but when I went outside , I saw the road had collapsed . 'The hole is massive . It must nearly cover half of the width of the whole road . 'Police were here pretty quick but cars had to swerve out of the way until we went out and stopped them . 'It is incredible . It is like something you would see in a disaster movie . ' Gradual : One eyewitness said the road 'gave way really slowly ' as people watched on . Unbelievable : Another person watching it collapse was 'like something you would see in a disaster movie ' Van driver Chris Williams , 30 , who was stuck in the traffic which backed as a result of the hole , added : ' I could n't believe it . 'There was loads of traffic . It was horrendous . It backed up for a good few miles . ' He added : 'It was very inconvenient . ' A Northamptonshire Police spokesman said the incident had been handed over to Anglian Water from the Highways Authority and they were no longer involved . An Anglian Water spokesman added : 'We are still working to get the problem resolved . 'We do not yet know what caused it but fortunately nobody was injured . 'There were six properties without water in the area and it could be days or a couple of weeks until the road is reopened . ' Coincidence : The five foot wide by two and a half foot long hole which suddenly appeared in London today . Meanwhile , investigations are continuing into how the pavement outside a cafe in Fulham , south-west London , came to collapse at about 8.50am . A woman , said to be in her 40s , had to be hospitalised after she fell through the hole into the basement of a cafe . Passers-by reported hearing a loud scream before the woman fell into the gap and early reports suggested she had been pushing a pram - although it 's now thought it was a shopping trolley . Hammersmith & Fulham Council said that it is investigating claims that the cafe owner raised the issue with the council two months ago and the causes of the collapse . A council spokeswoman added : 'The council ’ s structural engineer has carried out an initial investigation of the basement collapse in North End Road and secured the site . 'The freeholder of the property is legally responsible for the structural integrity of their basement but we are carrying out a full review of what ’ s happened and will ensure the site is made safe and all necessary actions are taken once we have a full understanding of how this occurred . '
Cars forced to swerve to avoid street collapse in Northampton today . Emergency services acted quickly to seal off the residential road . The crash happened at around 11.15am this morning on a busy main road near junction 15 of the M40 motorway, with traffic being diverted onto other roads as emergency crews dealt with the scene.