30ft hole opens up on busy Manchester road

The Mancunian Way, one of the busiest roads in the Manchester City Centre, has been closed in both directions after a huge 30ft wide hole opened up on the eastbound carriageway.

The appearance of the hole was triggered by heavy rainfall today, but the erosion of a large water pipe underground is believed to have been the main contributing factor in the caving in of the surface.

The hole is around 30ft across and approximately 40ft deep.

The road has been cordoned off in both directions between the Macdonald Hotel, close to Piccadilly Station, and Fairfield Street.

Since it first appeared earlier today, the hole has been reported to have increased in size, with part of the pavement collapsing as well.

Council officers report that the road may remain closed for several days, and traffic is being diverted around the area in the meantime.

Stay in touch with Trustatrader by checking out our Trust a Trader Wordpress profile and Trust a Trader Artician profile.

Affordable zero carbon homes completed in Hampshire

Architects Ash Sakula have revealed a complete row of affordable terraced zero carbon homes in the Eco-town of Whitehill Bordon, Hampshire, due to be made available for social rent by housing association Radian.

The architects won the first prize for the Eco-terrace in 2012, in an international design competition run by East Hampshire District Council and Radian.

The houses were built including a number of techniques designed to maximise energy efficiency in order to reach the difficult goal of zero carbon emissions. These include prefabrication, highly insulated walls, roofs, windows and floors, water-saving appliances, energy-efficient lighting, locally-sourced materials, airtightness and photovoltaic panels to reduce energy requirements to a minimum.

Discussing the Eco-terrace and the wider situation with current housing standards, architect Robert Sakula said: "We have some of the most inefficient housing stock in Europe, so it's very regrettable that the government hasn't stuck to its target for all new homes to be zero energy by 2016."

Find us on social media! Check out the Trust a Trader G+, Trust a Trader Facebook & Trust a Trader Twitter profiles.

£280m offer for most expensive house in the UK

2 to 8a Rutland Gate, a 60,000 square foot, 45 bedroom mansion just off Hyde Park in Knightsbridge, is on the market and has received an offer of £280m, making it the most expensive property in the UK.

The huge house was previously owned by the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, but was put on the market after his death in 2012.

It was given an asking price of £300m, double the price of the second most expensive home in the UK. The current offer of £280m is being considered, but is expected to be accepted.

The house has a large swimming pool in the basement, underground parking and several lifts to make navigating the extensive space more manageable.

It is thought that unless the new owners want the entire space for themselves, the property could be divided up into many luxury apartments, or possibly be returned to four large family homes, which was the original intention for the building.

Help Trust a Trader raise money for vulnerable elderly people by visiting the trust a trader Virgin money page as well as the trust a trader Just giving profile.

Georgian manor house moved 30 miles, brick by brick

A husband and wife who were looking to move from Wiltshire to Gloucestershire were struggling to find anywhere in their chosen area they liked as much as their current house, and so decided to move the entire house the 30 mile distance and rebuild it, brick by brick.

This would be a serious task with any house, but the home in question was an 18th century Georgian manor house with five bedrooms, four reception rooms and four bathrooms, built mainly from Cotswold stone.

After de constructing the house, finding an ideal plot and experiencing some planning complications, work began in the winter of 2009.

Unfortunately the harsh weather lead to around a third of the bricks from the original build being lost to frost damage. To make up for this, bricks were sourced from a few other demolished houses.

After a two year rebuilding process, the family finally had the perfect combination of the house they loved in an ideal picturesque country location.

Find out about Trust a Trader as a business by visiting the official Trust a Trader LinkedIn profile as well as the Trust a Trader Twitter account.