A good Samaritan leapt into action to stop cars driving into a 20ft deep pothole caused by a collapsed sewer.

Firefighter Karl Szczypka directed traffic away from the hole which appeared at the junction of St Augustine's Avenue and Fermoy Road, Thorpe Bay. The surrounding road surface was also subsiding, causing a saucer shape in the road. The void beneath was more than 15ft wide and about 20ft deep.

Karl's wife, Diane, 44, of St Augustine's Avenue, Thorpe Bay, said: "I was driving home when I saw the hole near our house. I went and looked down it and thought 'Oh my goodness!'

"I rushed indoors and told Karl, who then directed the traffic."

Another resident in the road, Robert Wells, 57, had a lucky escape thanks to Mr Szczypka.

He said: "I was driving back from the tip when I saw the man directing the traffic. You could see the road was subsiding."

Council workers moved in to close the junction and place warning signs while police cordoned off the junction.

Southend Council alerted Anglian Water, which immediately dispatched an investigation team.

An Anglian Water spokesman said: "It is a collapsed sewer and it is our responsibility to fix it.

"Work is expected to last two or three days."