A burst water main has caused a section of road, top, in Bellevue Hill to collapse, causing a landslide, middle. Bottom, the crater which has been left. Credit:James Brickwood and Seb Lane, smh.com.au reader. Front page thumbnail image: Renee Miller, smh.com.au reader A Woollahra Council spokeswoman said council rangers told Sydney Water about a possible leaking main on Tuesday morning and Thursday afternoon this week. "There was no water at (nearby) Cooper Park so they basically thought there was a problem with the main, so they thought they'd phone and report it to them," the spokeswoman said. "On Thursday they did a follow up and phoned (Sydney Water) again in the afternoon because the problem was still there." Sydney Water spokesman Brendan Elliott said a crew inspected the leak on Thursday but identified it as storm water.

"There was no sign of the small main having sprung a leak, instead they thought the water there was storm water," Mr Elliott said.

Residents have also told smh.com.au that water was leaking out of the ground "for days" in the same spot the landslide occurred. Matthew Brown, who lives in nearby Kendall Street, said he was walking his dog past the leak early yesterday. "At that time it was a pretty big leak, it was dinner plate-size, a big gurgle of water coming out of the ground and the site had been cordoned off," Mr Brown said. I whipped out my phone to take some pictures and the policeman said 'I hope you've got life insurance' and recommended I put it away, go home and turn off the electricity

"That was 6.30am in the morning so I can only assume it was going on all night and the day before." Woollahra Council denies taping off the leaking section, which was last night swallowed up by a 25 metre crater. Mr Elliott also said Sydney Water workers did not put up any form of safety tape. "That's not our practice," he said. He said it was very unlikely a main of that size - 300mm in diameter and cast iron construction - would leak in this way. "They typically break really fast so the idea it leaked slowly is unlikely," Mr Elliott said.

"We can't rule out the possibility it's one and the same thing but it would appear to be unlikely." A smaller water pipe may have been responsible for the longer term leak, he said. The Liberal Mayor of Woollahra, Andrew Petrie, said council workers were jackhammering about 20 metres from the site yesterday as part of ongoing streetscaping but denied the council was responsible for the damage. Another resident, Erin Scott, said she called Sydney Water about 6pm last night after noticing "water spurting from the top of the hill and mud all over the bottom of the park". Ms Scott said she was told to call Woollahra Council so reported it to them a short time later.

"They took my details and description of the problem and said they'd send someone out to look," she said. "Seventy-five minutes later the water was much louder and stronger and no-one had come so I called again. "Ten minutes later someone turned up but by that stage it was too far gone, the land had started eroding quickly and within five minutes a massive tree just next to the footpath was gone. "We watched from our window whilst one lone council worker just stood and kept people out of the way for about the next hour.'' The council spokeswoman confirmed the call centre received Erin's phone calls at 6.26pm and 7.42pm.

"The council ranger was on site by 7.45pm,'' she said. Fifteen minutes later, a 25 metre section of Victoria Road gave way. Two cars, a tree and a power pole were swept down the hill into Cooper Park. The ruptured gas main sparked a police lockdown; residents at home at the time were stranded without power and not allowed to leave, while people trying to make their way home were told to spend the night elsewhere. The flow of gas was stopped at 4am today, according to NSW Fire Brigades, allowing repair work on the water main to begin. Sydney Water workers are on site today.

Victoria Road is closed indefinitely between Bellevue and Birriga roads, while Bellevue Road is closed between Buller Street and Victoria Road. Bellevue Hill Public School is also closed today. Another Sydney Water spokeswoman, Karen Smith, earlier said the road closures could remain in place for several days. "There is probably going to be disruption for local traffic around the site for at least a few days while the embankment is repaired," Ms Smith said. "In terms of the pipe, we haven't been able to fix it because the ground is quite unstable - we're at the site now assessing the damage and assessing what has to be done.

"We're working with the police and all the other utilities out there to see what can be done." Resident Seb Lane said the gas leak was so loud last night he thought a helicopter was flying overhead. "It was such a loud noise when I went up the top (of the hill)," Mr Lane said. "I said to my dad 'I think there's a helicopter' ... and a policeman said 'there's been a big gas and water leak and that's what the noise is'. "I whipped out my phone to take some pictures and the policeman said 'I hope you've got life insurance' and recommended I put it away, go home and turn off the electricity."

Another resident, Renee Miller, said she could smell gas as she was driving up along Berger Place from Bondi. "The police said 'you can't get in, you're going to have to find somewhere else to stay tonight'," Ms Miller said. "They said (the landslide) had taken half of Victoria Road down into the park." "There have been no reports of any injuries as a result of the incident and no evacuations were necessary," police said. Ms Smith said water to the Bellevue Hill area had been restored at 10.30pm on Thursday night, once the broken water main had been switched off.

"Our system is very versatile and we can move water around from different areas, and we were able to get water into the Bellevue Hill area at about 10.30pm," she said. "As to how many properties had no water or low pressure it is a bit harder to determine ... (but) they would have only been without water for an hour or two, and they've still got water."

