Two hours later the hole thing had gone

The sinkhole at 3pm on Monday compared to just after 12pm Tuesday. Photo: RNZ / Delphine Herbert

Cafe owners near a sink hole that has opened up on College Hill in central Auckland say business has been disrupted.

It began to concave on Monday and is about two-and-a-half metres long. Kauri Creek cafe owner Andy Smith said it got bigger relatively quickly.

''Amazingly, I was here yesterday [Monday] and I was walking by and I noticed that all the tarmac had sunken in and I thought that was strange and then half-an-hour later when I was walking back a big chunk of it had fallen away, two hours later the hole thing had gone.

There have been less customers in the cafe today as a result of the road being blocked off, he said.

Cafe 28 had also been impacted, saying it has lost 80 percent of its revenue today alone.

In a statement, Auckland Council said teams have been on site and identified that a stormwater pipe that was due for renewal this August had developed further damage.

Healthy Waters head of operations Andrew Skelton said it had caused the soil and road above it to subside.

''Temporary work is underway to secure the damage and protect the road, and this is due to be completed by the end of the week," he said.

"As Healthy Waters already had plans and a design in place to complete this pipe renewal, this work will begin immediately following the temporary fix to the pipe and road."

Eastbound lanes towards the CBD were closed while works were underway, while one lane was open westbound towards Ponsonby.

A diverge had also been installed for access to Gudgeon Street and a detour was running through England, Ireland and Scotland Streets.

Auckland Council was recommending motorists use Franklin Road to avoid delays on College Hill.