Burst water main leaves 31,000 homes high and dry

Around 31,000 properties were yesterday without water in East Sussex due to a burst water main. Southern Water said the disruption in St Leonards-on-Sea and some areas of Hastings is expected to continue into today.

- JORDAN REYNOLDS

The issue was first reported on Thursday afternoon. The company has opened water bottle stations and said it is delivering bottled water to more than 6,000 customers on its priority services register. Schools, a leisure centre and a theatre in the area have been forced to close.

Southern Water said in an update yesterday morning: "Our teams worked through the night to remove the broken pipe and replace it with a new length of pipework. We are making good progress on the repair. When the repair work is completed, we will then recharge the network and restart our water supply works. However, this will take time and we expect disruption to continue over the weekend."

The company added that the burst main is located in Keeper's Wood "deep in woodland", which is making it difficult for crews and machinery to reach it.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, spokesperson Tim McMahon said: "This burst is in a very, very difficult location, I've been in the industry for 20 years, it is by far the most difficult location I've ever seen. You know, we've had to fell 50 trees just to get to the burst."