A broken manhole cover led to a council rubbish lorry becoming stuck in a busy town street.

Residents of Layer Road, Colchester, reported hearing a loud bang about 11.20am yesterday.

Dave McManus, street care and recycling manager at Colchester Council, said: "The lorry was turning out of a street when it hit the collapsed manhole cover."

Layer Road resident, Graham Long, 36, said he was in his house nearby when he heard what sounded like a "massive crash".

"When I came out I saw the rubbish truck across the road and it looked like the front axle had just sheered off."

Mr Long said traffic could just about get past after the incident.

A spokesman for BT said the problem with the manhole cover had now been reported and would be repaired within 24 hours.