The City of Cape Town has urged the public to report incidents of people digging under bridges.

The appeal comes as the Roads Infrastructure Management Department has been forced to carry out urgent repairs along a section of the southbound lanes of Jakes Gerwel Drive after illegal tunnelling and digging.

The City says it seems people have been digging out the sand under the bridge to create space for living and sleeping. It adds that this has impacted the road surface in the vicinity of the bridge, just before the railway line.

As a result of the repairs, the two right-hand lanes will close from half past nine this morning.

The municipality says if all goes as planned, the work should be completed by early evening.

Motorists have been encouraged to avoid this section where possible and use alternative routes.