KILBOWIE Road is to reopen six weeks ahead of schedule after months of chaos for Clydebank residents since a massive sinkhole appeared.

West Dunbartonshire Council announced today they will be able to complete the process of reopening the road this weekend.

Since the 62-metre hole - greater than the height of the Titan Crane and equivalent to 14 stacked double-decker buses - was discovered in January, the road has been closed to traffic with lengthy diversions in place and disruption to residents, businesses and commuters.

The Coal Authority finished filling in the deepest 56-metre portion of the unrecorded mine shaft in April and work on the upper six metres was expected to take 16 weeks because of all the utilities under the road.

But the council has announced the road will fully reopen by Monday, May 15 after the process starts tomorrow.

Dry weather and "efficient preparatory work" on the site has helped the work finish early.

Ronnie Dinnie, the council’s strategic lead for environment and neighbourhood, said: “This has been one of the most complicated road repairs imaginable and the Council has worked very closely with experts from the Coal Authority and various utility service firms to get Kilbowie Road safely repaired and reopened as fast as possible.

"We apologise once again for the disruption caused since January, but we are delighted to be able to open the road ahead of schedule.

“The recent good weather has allowed our teams to make excellent progress and we have also benefited from the meticulous preparation work carried out to ensure that the final stages went smoothly.

"Ensuring that utility pipework was properly protected throughout was another major challenge and the plans put in place to that end have also helped us reach this stage quicker than we had anticipated."

The deepest portion of the site took weeks to fill with concrete and then get a concrete cap before the Coal Authority handed over the repair job to the council.